M'SIA'S HALAGEL EYEING MIDEAST MARKET

By Muin Abdul Majid

DUBAI, Nov 17 (Bernama) -- Halagel (M) Sdn Bhd is gunning for the
Middle
East market, a potentially lucrative area for the company's products, said its
group marketing manager Muhammad Azhar Abdullah.

He said Halagel currently exported its products to countries like China,
India, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Canada, Brunei and Indonesia.

Speaking to Bernama on the sidelines of the Halal World Expo 2008 in Abu
Dhabi recently, he said: "This is our third mission to the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), having previously promoted our products in Dubai."

"We're trying our best to widen our market among Organisation of the
Islamic Conference (OIC) member countries and the Middle East region," he
said.

Muhammad Azhar said the company had set a target of between RM18
million and RM20 million in sales this year over RM13.5 million achieved in
2007.

According to a company brochure, Halagel is the sole importer, manufacturer
and distributor of halal food and pharmaceutical grade gelatine, halal empty
hard gelatine capsules and halal gelatine softgels for the Malaysian and
Southeast Asian markets.

It also supplies various consumer products such as herbal toothpaste,
edible rock salt, pre-mixed coffee and fruity gum sweets; health
products such as Vitamin C supplement; and nutraceutical products that include
virgin coconut oil, "habbatus sauda" oil and Omega-3 fish oil.

Muhammad Azhar said Halagel hoped to find suitable agents or traders to
market its products in this part of the world.

"We have received enquiries from places like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and
Dubai," he said, adding that the UAE, particularly Dubai, would be a good
stepping stone to explore other markets in the region and beyond.