By Azura Abas, New Straits Times
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will ramp up its initiatives to internationalise its halal concept and show that the market extends beyond mere Halal food products.
This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi after chairing the Malaysia Halal Council meeting today.
“Via numerous new international programmes, we hope to attract the world to utilise Malaysia as a global halal excellence centre.
“These programmes include the Multaqa International Halal Authority Board and Halal Innovation and Technology Exhibition.
“Having such programmes will make the world realise that Malaysia is special and not limited only to halal food products,” he said in a statement.
Zahid said Malaysia can benefit greatly from the halal industry, which has been identified as a new source of economy via the Islamic Economic Transformation Programme.
The halal industry, he said, has the means to change the Islamic economic pattern, making it more competitive.
Zahid noted that since the Malaysia Halal Council was formed on June 8 last year, it had executed various initiatives to ensure the country’s halal ecosystem remains robust, thus putting Malaysia in the driver’s seat in the halal industry.
The deputy prime minister also launched the Smart Halal application which aims to make it easy for consumers to get fast and accurate information relating to halal status of products.
The application, developed by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Islamic Religious Development Department (Jakim), can be downloaded via the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
