Latin American Countries Seek HDC's Assistance In Developing Halal Industry

By Nurul Hanis Izmir KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 (Bernama) -- Three Latin American countries, namely Brazil, Chile and Mexico, have sought the Halal Industry Development Corporation's (HDC) assistance and expertise to develop their halal industry. HDC Chief Executive Officer Jamil Bidin said they planned to emulate the success of Malaysia's halal ecosystem in their countries. He said over 70 countries had sought HDC's assistance since its establishment in 2006. "Our standards in managing halal products and services are globally recognised," he told Bernama. Commenting on HDC's Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) Gala 2016 victory in Jakarta recently, he said it would further strengthen its resolve to expand its presence in the global halal market which was worth US$2.4 trillion. The HDC lifted the inaugural GIFA's 'Halal Industry Development Award' in recognition of its contribution to the halal industry in installing an ecosystem, including assisting industry players, promoting exports, creating employment, and providing infrastructure and training services. On the upcoming Budget 2017, Jamil said HDC hoped the government would provide facilities or programmes to assist halal companies in embracing the e-commerce platform in line with its effort to enhance the digital economy. "It is not necessary to provide monetary incentives, instead the government should create more activities for local companies which are providing halal products and services. "Special attention should also be given to Bumiputera (indigenous Malaysian) companies as their participation in the export market is still low," he said. Under its key performance indicator, HDC targets halal exports to reach US$11.93 billion (RM50 billion) by 2020 from the current US$9.54 billion (RM40 billion). It also forecasts the sector to create 330,000 jobs from 285,000 and generate total investments of US$3.58 billion (RM15 billion) from US$3.10 billion (RM13 billion). Jamil said the halal industry was expected to contribute 10 per cent to the nation's GDP by 2020 from the current 7.5 per cent, with a major portion coming from the food and beverages sector. On the industry's outlook this year, he said HDC strived to match last year's performance. "We would like to maintain our export figure of RM40 billion and if we were lucky, we could see a two to three per cent increase, mainly supported by food and beverages and halal ingredients," he said, adding that China remained Malaysia's number one importer. Last year, China imported halal products worth US$954.75 million (RM4 billion) from Malaysia and the figure is expected to improve due to various initiatives taken by the government, he added. --BERNAMA