The Star Online
PETALING JAYA: The Halal Industry Development Corp (HDC) aims to double the number of companies exporting halal products to 1,600 by 2020, said its chief executive officer Datuk Seri Jamil Bidin.
Jamil said this came on the back of positive outlook in global growth with the International Monetary Fund forecasting 3.4% this year.
World trade volume was also projected to expand by 3.8% this year, he said.
“On the same note, Malaysias real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is also expected to improve to 4.4% this year,” he said at the briefing on the performance of the halal industry and outlook in Petaling Jaya on Thursday.
Jamil said the halal industry would contribute 8.7% to Malaysia’s GDP by 2020.
Overall, he said, it has been an unrelenting testing period for the industry. “But with the discipline we have in sticking to our strategic programmes, the Halal industry has persevered and continued to show resilience,” he said.
In terms of economic development, Malaysia registered RM13.2bil of investments in its halal parks that resulted in RM205.1bil (estimated) in exports since 2011 to September 2016, contributed by 1,401 exporters.
It is forecast that by 2020, Malaysia’s annual halal exports would exceed RM50bil.
“The integrity of halal food products among Muslim consumers as well as those that subscribe to them has been demand-driven.
As a result, industry players are confident in their expectations for the halal industry in Malaysia,” he said.
Jamil said the high performance of HALMAS Halal Park in 2016 saw RM700mil in new investments in the food and beverage sector; RM1.384bil in the ingredients sector; and RM511mil in other sectors. He said by 2020, halal investments were expected to top RM15bil.
Since its establishment in 2006, HDC has been the focal point to coordinate and facilitate the overall development and promotion of the halal industry in Malaysia in concert with various governmental agencies to significantly transform the halal landscape.
Jamil listed six HDC’s implementation pillars for success of the halal industry development, including policy and legislation, international footprint, halal enterprise development and bumiputra development. Meanwhile, on the the international front, he said HDC was targeting Japan, China and Asean, particularly, Indonesia and Cambodia.
“The plan in Japan is to generate an extra US$10.3bil (RM45.9bil) through halal industry with a focus on the Olympics 2020 while for China, the country alone has 30 million Muslims with annual halal market growth at 10%.
“The One-Belt One-Road strategy, where halal products have been identified as the engine of growth through the Malaysia-China collaborations, would provide access for Malaysia into China’s Muslim population not easily accessible for the others,” he said. – Bernama
