Malaysia’s Halal industry at a crossroad

Kuala Lumpur, 12 May 2010 – As a prelude to the eagerly anticipated 5th World Halal Forum (WHF) which will be held this June, the WHF Secretariat held the World Halal Forum Roundtable 2010 at Menara MATRADE recently. The WHF Roundtable 2010 was chaired by Y.B. Dato’ Mukhriz Tun Dr. Mahathir, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), and was attended by key industry players and selected movers and shakers within the industry in a closed door discussion to submit recommendations, re-evaluate, strategise and share market intelligence on the state of the Halal industry in Malaysia.

In attendance at the Roundtable were Hajjah Jumaatun Azmi, Founder and Managing Director of Kasehdia Sdn Bhd (the organiser), along with key representatives from the government that included JAKIM, Standards Malaysia, HDC, SME Corp, MIDA, MATRADE and key industry representatives from various sectors within Halal such as Food, Pharmaceutical, Cosmetics, Logistics, Travel and Tourism, and Finance among others. The title for this WHF Roundtable 2010 was “State of the Halal Industry: Malaysia – Issues, Perspectives & Solutions”.  Results from this roundtable will be used to form a game plan to strengthen Malaysia’s foothold in the global Halal industry, and will be unveiled at length at World Halal Forum 2010.

“MITI is very focused in seeing the potential of Halal in Malaysia actualised. We are here to encourage industry to take up Halal, previously we have focused on Halal standards and integrity, and I am happy to note that we have achieved and maintained our position as the leader in this. But now we must focus on converting more local industries into Halal, creating awareness of the Halal ecosystem and stronger linkages with Islamic and banking sectors”, said YB. Dato’ Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir at the Roundtable.

“It is crucial that we arrive at a solution that will help to facilitate the collaboration between the government and private sectors in order to strengthen the credibility, strengthen the integrity and revive the once progressive momentum of Malaysia’s Halal industry,” he added.

The Roundtable saw the open and constructive discussions of issues and challenges faced by the private sectors, along with comments from the public sector. This highly participative discussion is a key element in streamlining Malaysia’s public-private sector coordination in charting a direction towards being recognised as an International Halal Hub.

Y.B. Dato’ Mukhriz had this to say about the roundtable itself: “When you talk about Halal, it will never end because you discover new things all the time. Just when you think you’ve found your niche, it opens up new avenues. I’m glad to say that in today’s Roundtable, we’re really looking into the nitty gritty of things, mainly not just in creating standards worldwide, but in the case of Malaysia, how do we translate that into something that is economically beneficial. It is a continuing debate and in the end I think that even though the government provides a conducive environment, it is up to the private sector to translate that into dollars and cents.”

The World Halal Forum 2010

The Roundtable was held as a prologue to the world’s premier Halal event, the World Halal Forum which will once again stir the industry by providing a highly charged platform for an unreserved view of the progress within this trillion dollar industry. This year’s theme will be ‘State of Industry: International Trade and Market Access’.

The theme for the 5th World Halal Forum allows for a candid evaluation of the initiatives taken across the globe to strengthen this massive market in one collective broad-stroke, and provides an opportunity for industry players to stop, take stock and readdress their business strategies.

The World Halal Forum was conceptualised and is organised by Kasehdia Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian company best known for spearheading the Halal industry with its diversified platform of media and events, such as the Halal Journal and the Halal Guides. The company also developed the Halal chapter for the Malaysian government in the Third Malaysian Industry Master Plan. Due to the importance of World Halal Forum in an international context, the government of Malaysia has listed the event as an annual national initiative.

“The World Halal Forum is seen as an industry barometer and acts as a nucleus that brings together the movers and shakers of the global Halal industry. It is a platform for discussions where important manifestos are made by industry leaders and experts as a collective. With such an immense responsibility to shoulder, we needed to ensure that this platform is used to chart the right path for the industry. After identifying and raising many pertinent issues that faces the industry, we felt it was time to go back to the fundamentals of what we’re trying to do and revisit the State of the Industry with an objective but critical eye,” said Hajjah Jumaatun Azmi, Founder and Managing Director of Kasehdia Sdn Bhd.

The organiser will also share market intelligence gained from World Halal Forum Europe 2009 which will help shed some light on the direction of the industry in Europe, a huge market that will greatly benefit those in the know. The World Halal Forum 2010 will be held at KL Convention Centre from June 21 – 22 and is forecasted to attract over 1,000 delegates made up of industry leaders, MNCs, governments, key experts, and the who’s who of the Halal industry from over 50 countries.

For more information on World Halal Forum, please visit www.worldhalalforum.org or contact Ms. Andora Fredericks, Manager, Corporate Comm. and PR at 03-6203 1025 or 012-3921 553 or andora@kasehdia.com.