Halal Industry Masterplan To Be Presented To Government By End February



KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 (Bernama) — A masterplan for the halal industry
will be presented to the government by end of this month, the chief
executive officer of Halal Industry Development Corporation, Datuk
Jamil Bidin, said today.

“We have completed the masterplan and we are ready to submit to the government through the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).

“We are waiting for a date from EPU now to make presentation to
the National Implementation Directorate (NID) and the National
Implementation Task Force (NITF),” he told reporters after the official
launch of World Halal Forum 2008 here.

Jamil said the masterplan was a comprehensive blueprint
encompassing a three-year roadmap for the development of the country’s
halal industry which is rapidly expanding.

One of its main agenda is to help boost the country’s gross
domestic product from 5.8 percent to 8.7 percent by 2020 through export
value, human capital development and added resources in various key
disciplines, besides providing value-added services and products.

Besides that, the masterplan will focus on industries related to
agriculture, food-processing and manufacturing, cosmetics and
skin-care, halal ingredients, together with downstream activities like
branding and promotions.

In addition, the blueprint will also focus on strengthening the
services sector such as international halal certificate, halal training
and research and development (R&D).

On market access to the European market, Jamil said the HDC will
be having industry dialogue in Netherland with government officials and
industry players to find out on how Malaysia can gain market access
into the market, particularly for food-related items.

The promoter of the World Halal Forum 2008, KasehDia Sdn Bhd
together with industry players recently suggested that HDC seeks an
annual tariff rate quota (TRQ) of between 1,500 tonnes and 2,000 tonnes
of processed poultry meat from the European Commission (EC).

Jamil said having the TRQ, Malaysian companies will not only get
access to the European market but at the same time improve their
quality and safety standards to be in compliance with the European
Union (EU).

Currently, there is only one Malaysian company which is already
approved by the EC to export processed poultry meat products to the EU,
exporting only about 50 tonnes per annum.

In June 2006, the EC introduced the TRQ to limit the import of
frozen poultry meat products and only Brazil and Thailand received the
quota after completing their negotiations with EC.

The World Halal Forum which is to be held on May 12 and 13, is expected to attract some 1,200 participants from 55 countries.