HDC sees potential in 10 new halal markets
SEOUL: Malaysia will expand its halal services to 10 new countries through China’s US$1 trillion (RM4.18 trillion) Belt and Road initiative, says Halal Industry Development Corp (HDC).
Its vice-president Hanisofian Alias said the new countries would include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Turkmenistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Along the route, there are about 10 Muslim-majority countries, and we have identified opportunities in these new markets.
“For example, in Kazakhstan and part of Russia, where our ministry will be having a joint economic commission meeting (with Russian counterpart) at the end of the year,” he said during a four-day working visit to the Seoul Food 2019, here, yesterday.
The event was organised by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra), a state-funded organisation, with the aim of facilitating South Korea’s exportled economic development via trade promotion activities.
In March, HDC signed a memorandum of understanding with Kotra to enhance halal bilateral trade and investment exchange, as well as market access for halal products and services between both countries.
Hanisofian said these countries had been showing a keen interest in their domestic halal industry developments.
“We are expanding into these countries via an internationalisation approach based on five main features, namely opening new markets, rebranding, expanding services and products from Malaysia, human resources development, and thought leadership, which uses Malaysia as a reference centre for the world’s halal industry.”
He said HDC would also leverage its halal services by exporting more food products to China, of which 26 million are Muslims, with its domestic halal market growing by 10 per cent annually.
Hanisofian said apart from new trade collaborations with the 10 countries, the agency under the Economic Affairs Ministry would be focusing on its cooperation with South Korea.
“In South Korea, we will focus on the education sector and human capital development, involving cooperation between local universities for both countries.
“We also see opportunities in the Muslim-friendly hospitality sector, as well as sharing expertise in terms of research and development and innovation.”
Malaysia’s halal export to South Korea was at RM1.28 billion last year, where three product categories with the highest export values were halal ingredient (RM600 million), food and beverages (RM594 million) and cosmetics and personal care (RM80 million).