By Danial Norjidi
Bandar Seri Begawan – Progress has been made on the Brunei Halal
Brand and agriculture in Brunei at the 6th China-Asean Expo, as more
people are showing interest in the Sultanate, said Abdul Latif Sani,
Senior Livestock Husbandry Officer of the Brunei Halal Development
Division, Department of Agriculture, MIPR.
“There are quite a number of Aims, not only from Nanning but outside
Nanning too. They are asking about how we can work together on a
cooperation basis. One man was interested in exporting his products to
Brunei, and then from Brunei he was thinking of exporting to the nearby
region. He is aware that our population is very small, but he doesn’t
mind because he can see that Brunei can be a stepping stone for him to
export his halal products, and he was asking how the halal products
would be received in Brunei, so I explained to him that the agriculture
department doesn’t issue any certification of halalness, but that it is
under the jurisdiction of the Religious Council. He said he is willing
to work with Brunei authorities.
“On the agriculture side, most import and export agencies are
looking into Brunei as a potential market. Other than goods, they are
also trying to cooperate on the usage of the technology in farming as
well, so I welcomed them.
“My advice was to come to Brunei, see the country, look at the
people in terms of consumers, what they consume, what type of goods,
plus most of our food source is from outside Brunei. So another
facility is that they can supply us with the raw materials, and they
can operate in Brunei itself
“The response is good, because they are aware of Brunei now. They
know what the population is. The previous year they didn’t know where
Brunei is. This shows that from our previous year, our mission is
effective, showing where Brunei is Knowing that we have created
awareness to what Brunei is, what Brunei is doing, it’s like a
jumpstart for them; how they an cooperate and how they can work with
Brunei on technology, on food production and cooperation in other areas
as well.
“I am thinking, next year, in terms of Brunei Halal Brand, of
bringing the products and holding an investment seminar and telling the
visitors we are ready to accept their products to be included in the
Brunei Halal initiatives”.
They will produce for us, then we will do the packaging under our
Brunei Halal packaging. We will then market their products globally in
the halal market.
“In agriculture, we can probably work more on the technology side,
because they are more advanced in the usage of farming technology and
machinery.”– Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
