WORK TOGETHER TO DEVELOP HALAL PARKS, STATE GOVTS TOLD

KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (Bernama) -- State governments should work together
to share their expertise and experience to develop halal parks in their
respective states, says International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa
Mohamed.

So far, only eight of the 20 halal parks in the country have attracted
investments, he said.

He said there was a need for correlation among state governments in
developing halal parks especially parks that have yet to gain investor interest.

"I won't say less-developed halal parks are failures, but they are just
relatively new," he told reporters at the Third World Halal Research Summit
2010.

To date, 97 companies have either bought factory sites, started factory
construction or are already in operations at various halal parks. They have
cumulatively attracted some RM4.8 billion (US$1.45 billion) investment.

Among the successful halal parks are Tanjung Manis in the state of Sarawak,
Pulau Indah in the state of Selangor and Bukit Minyak in the state of Penang.

Earlier, in his keynote address, Mustapa said the government was developing
the halal industry in a holistic manner to create a halal "eco-system", a
departure from other countries.

While other countries focused only on certain halal products such as food
products, meat or poultry, Malaysia's emphasis would not only be in production,
but also halal-related services like Islamic banking and finance, logistics and
tourism, the minister said.

He said support services for halal research and development, innovation,
training, standards development and creation of a global halal reference centre
are also priority areas.

"The global halal market estimated at US$2.1 trillion remains untapped and
we should work towards creating opportunities and make Malaysia the preferred
destination for quality investments," said Mustapa.

Investors and industry players are encouraged to tap into breakthrough
technologies developed by local research centres and higher learning
institutions to creare more economic impact for Malaysia, he added.
-- BERNAMA


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