KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Bernama) — The Halal Industry Development Corp (HDC) is confident that by 2020, the number of halal food companies will increase by over 50 per cent from 20 per cent currently.
Its chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Jamil Bidin, said the target was achievable as industry players were beginning to realise the vast potentials of the halal market.
“The number of halal-certified companies in Malaysia continue to increase. It grew by 20 per cent to 1,679 companies in 2010 from 1,399 companies in 2009.
“The majority of halal industry manufacturers are from specialty process food clusters (64 per cent), healthcare (11 per cent), ingredients (six per cent) and personal care and cosmetics (six per cent),” told a media briefing on the role of the organisation and its activities for 2011.
He said to further promote the halal industry, HDC has proposed 33 activities for this year under its four core areas.
“They are capacity building and industry linkages programmes; investment attraction; global halal reference centre; and, halal training and consultancy,” he said.
Jamil said the objective of capacity building was to support and assist potentially viable halal industry players, especially in escalating and advancing small and medium enterprises to higher achievements and performance.
“In further encouraging capacity developments, the HDC has introduced the annual HIPP (Halal Industry Partners Programme) that recognises companies that play a significant role through participation and contribution,” he said.
He said HDC has introduced training programmes designed for both Muslims and non-Muslims keen to learn more about halal manufacturing and processing.
The investment attraction division would roll out special attractions for halal investors to do business here like tax allowances for halal park tenants and owners, he said.
Jamil said the HDC would invest RM2 million to launch a one-stop global reference centre by end-September this year.
“The centre will provide support for companies and service providers in halal-related sectors,” he said.
— BERNAMA
