Malaysia to step up global halal initiatives

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will heighten its halal internationalisation initiatives to attract global interest in a bid to make the country as the global halal excellence centre, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said among the initiatives were the organisation of new international programmes such as Multaqa International Halal Authority Board (IHAB) and Halal Innovation and Technology Exhibition (HITEx).

“These programmes will be able to show the global community that Halal Malaysia is special and not limited to only halal products,” he said in a statement after chairing the Malaysia Halal Council meeting yesterday.

Ahmad Zahid said Malaysia would also capitalise on the halal industry which had been identified as a new economic source through the Islamic Economy Transformation Programme, which is seen as being able to transform the Islamic economy to be more competitive and forwardlooking.

At the meeting, he also launched the SMART HALAL application (app) which is able to facilitate users to obtain information relating to the Malaysia Halal Validation status faster.

Ahmad Zahid said the development of the app was outcome of the cooperation between the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) through the National Blue Ocean Strategy initiatives.

The app can be downloaded via telephone from Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

A total of nine presentation papers from Jakim, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit were discussed in the meeting, he said.

Among them were the Malaysian Halal Certification Development Initiative report; latest updates on the Halal Industry Master Plan 20182030; organisation proposals for Multaqa IHAB and HITEx 2018 and proposal for the Islamic Economy Transformation Programme.

Also deliberated were the latest updates on the Halal Internationalisation Initiative in the Industry Development Framework; the Bumiputera facilitation Fund status; and the outcomes of the Halal Fiesta Asean 2017 and Malaysia International Halal Showcase 2017 events. — Bernama

— Bernama photo Ahmad Zahid (middle) chairs the Malaysia Halal Council meeting yesterday. Also seen is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom (left).