Halal confab in Manila starts tomorrow

The
Philippines will hold the 1st National Halal Convention tomorrow and
Thursday at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Roxas Boulevard in
Pasay City.

The convention, which will discuss the business
opportunities and development of the Halal food sector and the
importance of Halal products in domestic and global markets, is a joint
undertaking of the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of
Tourism, Department of Science and Technology, Department of
Agriculture, Department of Health, DTI-Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao, and the Office of Muslim Affairs.

The convention will
have sessions on priorities and challenges of the Philippine Halal
industry, exporting and business potentials, with speakers from
Malaysia and Thailand who will also share their Halal promotion
strategies.

“Halal,” which literally means permissible in Islam,
is a billion-dollar food industry waiting to be tapped by the
Philippine food industry.

The Philippine National Standard for Halal food was promulgated in February this year.

Halal
has evolved from a concern on faith and religious practice to a now
cultural norm even with the non-Muslim, brought about by the demand in
the global market for healthy and safety products.

The global
market for Halal products is growing fast – for food products alone,
the market is around $550-billion, according to Malaysian statistical
data.

In the Philippines, there are about 10 million Muslims who are automatically prospective consumers of Halal products.

Also
in Malaysia, there are about 20 million Muslims while in the Middle
East, 300 million or approximately 1.5 billion in the rest of the world
market.

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