HDC To Meet Government Officials On Halal Industry During D-8 Summit


By Nor Baizura Basri

KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 (Bernama) — Bangladesh and Indonesia are
keen to leverage on Malaysia’s expertise in developing halal standards
and experience in the industry to develop the industries in their
countries.

To this end, Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC)
representatives would meet government officials from both countries to
discuss ways to develop the industry on the sidelines of the coming D-8
summit and related meetings beginning this week.

HDC oversees the development of the halal industry in Malaysia.

“Each country has different requirements and is looking at
Malaysia to help them develop this industry,” HDC’s chief executive
officer, Datuk Jamil Bidin, told Bernama here Tuesday.

He said both countries were keen to further develop their halal industries, more so given their large Muslim populace.

Indonesia has about 240 million people while Bangladesh has 154 million.

Both countries are part of the D-8 grouping or developing eight
Islamic countries, which have confirmed their participation in the
grouping’s sixth summit and related meetings, which Malaysia will be
hosting for five days beginning Friday.

“There have been requests by these parties to meet with us on the sidelines of the D-8 meetings,” he said.

Jamil said Bangladesh, for instance, was looking at developing its own halal standards for halal certification.

He said Indonesia has an abundant supply of raw materials which could be used to produce halal food and products for export.

“We want to find ways to cooperate with Indonesia by using their raw materials and process them into halal products,” he said.

Jamil will be one of the panellists at the D-8 Business Forum
tomorrow, which is held in conjunction with the Sixth D-8 Summit
starting from July 4-8.

He is expected to talk about HDC’s role in steering the
development of halal industry in the country and its new role as issuer
of halal certification in domestic and international arena.

Jamil will also talk on Malaysia’s position as an ideal halal
reference centre for certification, training and research and
development as well as on incentives for foreign investors.

— BERNAMA