PETALING JAYA: The Halal Development Corporation Berhad (HDC) must collaborate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to spearhead the agenda of halal diplomacy in order to bring Malaysia’s halal brand globally, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Ahmad Zahid said this was because many countries and organisations looked to Malaysia when building their halal ecosystems.
In view of this, he said HDC should not only focus on tangible halal products or services but also use this as an opportunity to export halal knowledge through Malaysia’s halal diplomacy.
“This fresh concept of halal diplomacy, led by HDC, can set global gold standards for halal that includes facilitating halal services across borders, encouraging technology and research sharing and ensuring a seamless halal verification process.”
“In this way, we can build a resilient and sustainable global halal economy. By adopting this concept, we can also maintain Malaysia’s top halal status through the internalisation of our halal ecosystem,” he said in his speech during the World Halal Excellence Awards 2022 organised by HDC here tonight.
HDC is an agency under the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, which is the central coordinator that promotes participation and facilitates growth of industry players in the development of Malaysia’s halal ecosystem.
Ahmad Zahid reiterated that the government wanted to make Malaysia a global leader in the halal economy as the halal market is set to grow from US$3 trillion in 2018 to US$5 trillion by 2030.
“Our government recognises this and that is why we have launched initiatives to boost the industry’s capacity and competitiveness,” he said while adding that in this regard, the government had launched the Halal Industry Master Plan 2030 to drive the country’s economic development.
“We are aiming big with this master plan. We want the industry to expand to US$113 billion by 2030, contributing eight per cent to our Gross Domestic Product by 2025 and creating over 350,000 high-quality jobs,” he added.
On the World Halal Excellence Awards (WHEA) 2022, Ahmad Zahid said the event reflected the pace of ongoing economic growth supported by the contributions, achievements and commendable efforts of halal industry players in inducing greater product and market complexity, while integrating Malaysian products globally and tapping on the great potential of the trillion-dollar industry.
Also present were Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and HDC chairman Khairul Azwan Harun.
