KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 (Bernama) — Mexico is seeking Malaysia’s expertise to develop its halal industry to become a regional halal hub given the huge potential of the global halal industry, said Mexico’s ambassador to Malaysia Carlos Felix Corona.
He said Malaysia has a leadership role as developers of halal market expertise in such matters as industry standards and certification.
“We want to develop the halal food and halal industry in Mexico. If we have the certification from Malaysia, we can expand operations to the rest of the world and Mexican companies can export halal products to the United States given that there is a bigger population of Muslims in that country.
“Since Malaysia already has experience in setting up and developing the halal hub here, we want to use their expertise to work with us to set up a halal hub in our country,” he told Bernama during a visit to its headquarters here.
Also present were Bernama Editor-In-Chief Datuk Zulkefli Salleh and Deputy Editor-In-Chief for Foreign News Ahmad Zukiman Zain.
Earlier, Corona called on Bernama General Manager Datuk Yong Soo Heong.
Mexico is also looking to strengthen ties with Malaysia and plans to expand bilateral trade, said Corona.
He said the business outlook is positive given the economic recovery in the North America region, which offers an opportunity to develop all sectors of the Mexican economy to connect with Malaysian companies.
Mexico, the fifth largest country in the Americas with a population of over 150 million people, offers various opportunities for Malaysian companies.
“There are specific sectors that we can match better, for example energy is a very important element with Mexico being one of the most important oil producers in the world with 3.7 million barrels per day.
“We have established energy reforms in Mexico and right now there are many foreign companies that want to invest in our country to explore the energy sector,” he added.
Corona said Mexican companies should come to Malaysia and discover the vast opportunities here and in Southeast Asia.
“Malaysia is very strong in the automobile industry and infrastructure, so these are the other potential areas where we can expand operations,” he added.
Corona stressed the importance of bilateral trade between Mexico and Malaysia, its main trade partner in Southeast Asia — in 2013 the trade amounted to US$5.234 billion.