Malaysia confident to be able to export RM50b in Halal export by 2020

By Lidiana Rosli – New Straits Times

PETALING JAYA: Halal Industry Development Corp (HDC) is confident that Malaysia will be able to export as much as RM50 billion of home-grown halal products worldwide by 2020.

HDC vice president of industry development Hanisofian Alias said this was possible as more non-Muslims are embracing halal as part of a healthy and hygienic lifestyle.“

“Our halal export is currently at about RM43 billion and I am confident that we will be able to hit the RM50 billion mark by the end of 2020,” he said.

“Many non-Muslim countries have recognised the untapped potential in the halal market and are now racing to gain a footing, presenting a major business and export opportunity for us as Malaysia has always held the benchmark in halal production and certification.

Hanisofian, had earlier alongside halal advisory ARK Advantage (ARK), announced its collaboration with Denmark-based cooperative ARLA Foods amba (Arla) towards the globalisation of Halal Malaysia.

For the preliminary stage of the collaboration, HDC will provide subject matter expert advisory services and offer halal training and consultancy services as required by Arla and ARK.

“This is a long-term collaboration between the three of us, in terms of knowledge sharing and marketing of products,” said Hanisofian.

“HDC comes into play in helping Arla navigate policy changes in Malaysia as well as Southeast Asia. This is important as for Malaysia alone, Arla has already exported over RM30 million worth of products in 2017.”

Arla head of global halal supply chain Mahdi Salhab said that for the time being, the firm would not be monetarily investing into the country but that might change given time.

“We do expect that the size of our export into the country will increase over time, on the back of this collaboration but it is too soon to tell by how much,” he said.

Arla’s Mandatory Halal Assurance System is designed in compliance with JAKIM’s Halal Assurance Management System, Department of Standards Malaysia MS Halal 1500:2009.

Arla Foods is an international dairy company owned by 11,200 farmers from Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium.

The global halal market is currently estimated at US$2.3 trillion covering both food and non-food sectors.