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Last Updated: Jun 25th, 2007 - 17:07:26 |
Halal-certified products gaining prominence
DUBAI, Feb 22 (NNN-Bernama) -- Rapid expansion of the halal market has led to many countries recognizing that a Halal-certified product has immediate added value in the global market, Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) Chief Executive Officer Datuk Jamil Bidin said Wednesday.
A Halal-certified product is now becoming a pre-requisite to market access in many countries, he said at the "World Halal Forum (WHF) Dialogue: Dubai" held in conjunction with the Gulfood 2007 Exhibition here.
He said that in Malaysia, due to its multi-cultural society, the country had for many decades maintained a strong adherence to Halal compliance.
"Our MS1500 standard has also been used by several other countries as a blueprint for their own halal standards and certification initiatives," he told the dialogue participants who included businessmen and Muslim associations from Oman, Canada and the United States apart from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Jamil said that the tremendous growth of the halal industry was not in the Muslim countries.
"Many non-Muslim countries have significant Muslim population and with the economic growth in for example India and China, we can anticipate increased demand as well as production to come from these markets," he said.
Jamil said that Eastern and Western Europe, where Muslims numbered over 50 million, is a also emerging as a significant market apart from the US where the nine million Muslims accounted for 16 percent of US$100 billion kosher market, mainly due to the lack of available halal products.
"I believe that we are going to see halal emerging as one of the mos powerful market forces in the food industry in the coming decade.
"Halal is not a niche market; Halal is for everyone; and I believe that we will see the reality of this reflected in economic terms in years to come," he said.
Touching on HDC, Jamil said that it was formed to develop the halal sector for both the local and international markets and it has identified three significant areas of focus that will need to be developed in order for the sector to realise its full potential.
These are protecting and developing the parameters of halal, ensuring that the Syariah definitions keep pace with the rapid development in industry and science and lastly ensuring that halal compliance can be verified all the way from the farm to the fork, Jamil said.
Meanwhile, Saleh Abdullah Lootah, Chief Executive Officer of Al Islami Foods, which is hosting the dialogue, noted that scientifically proven health benefits of halal food have attracted an unprecedented demand for these products across the world from both Muslim and non-Muslim consumers.
Al Islami Foods, which was established in 1981, produces a variety of food products which are considered as quality benchmark by consumers across the UAE and the GCC countries comprising Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE.
A latest study conducted by HighBeam Research showed that the international halal food industry was estimated at a value of US$150 billion and had the potential to rise to US$500 billion by 2010.
Other speakers at the dialogue included Director, International Halal Integrity Alliance (IHI) Abdalhamid Evans, who talked on Halal Initiatives & Developments in Southeast Asia and Director of Quality Control, McDonalds International Dr Hahib M.Nasria who spoke on the Challenges for Multinationals in the Global Halal Market.
The dialogue, one of a series of international WHF dialogues held by KasehDia Sdn Bhd, evolved around Going Global with Halal as the main theme.
It is a prelude to the World Halal Forum to be held in Kuala Lumpur from May 7 to 8, which will see decision-makers and captains of the industry in the halal sector deliberate and chart the development of the industry, and Malaysian International Halal Showcase, the world's largest halal trade event to be held from May 9 to 13.
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