Malaysia ‘on track’ to fully develop halal industry valued at RM7.2b

MIHAS-logo-125Malaysia is on track to achieve its aim to fully develop the local halal industry, having initiated more than 100 projects valued at a total of RM7.2 billion over the past four years. Minister for International Trade and Industry (MITI) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the government will push the momentum with focus on pharmaceuticals and Islamic banking.

“We have been successful in promoting the halal branding worldwide and now we have to focus on increasing the supply of products,” he said at the opening World Halal Week in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

“Today, we are proud to see that the Malaysian halal standard is being used by some world renowned multinational companies (MNCs) such as Nestlé, Colgate Palmolive, Ajinomoto and Unilever.”

He said the halal industry has attained global recognition and has manufactured an increasing range of halal products that serve an international market worth about US$2.3 trillion (RM7.08 trillion). Mustapa said Malaysia is partnering with neighbouring countries to expand the product supply.

“For example, total halal trade with Indonesia went up to 30% last year, it is a big jump,” he said.

Mustapa said, the government was keen on the halal industry that has the potential consumer size of three billion people.

He said the concurrently running International Halal Showcase 2013 (Mihas) posted RM411 million sales in its very first day of the exhibition. “This is a positive result as we target to make RM500 million for the two-day event,” he said.

Last year, the two-day Incoming Buying Mission (IBM) event recorded total sales of over US$121 million. About 457 companies from 29 count ries occupy 518 booths at Mihas 2013. An estimated 20,000 people have visited the event.

International exhibitors include France, China, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and a new participation recorded from New Zealand, this year.

Some of the prominent exhibitors that can be seen at Mihas, which is open until April 6, are Allanasons Ltd, A1 Best One Food Industry Sdn Bhd, Maybank Islamic Bhd, QSR Brands Bhd, OWL International Pte Ltd and Bilal Foods Corp, among others.