Malaysia's HDC To Double Number Of Firms Exporting Halal Products To 1,600 By 2020

PETALING JAYA (Selangor, Malaysia), Jan 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's Halal Industry Development Corp (HDC) aims to double the number of companies exporting halal products to 1,600 by 2020, said its Chief Executive Officer, Jamil Bidin. Jamil said this came on the back of positive outlook in global growth where the International Monetary Fund has forecast 3.4 per cent this year. World trade volume was also projected to expand to 3.8 per cent this year, he said. "On the same note, Malaysia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is also expected to improve to 4.4 per cent this year," he said. He said this at the briefing on the performance of the halal industry and outlook here today. Jamil said the halal industry would contribute 8.7 per cent to Malaysia’s GDP by 2020. Overall, he said, it has been an unrelenting testing period for the industry. "But with the discipline we have in sticking to our strategic programmes, the halal industry has persevered and continued to show resilience," he said. In terms of economic development, Malaysia registered RM13.2 billion (US$1 = RM4.46) of investments in its halal parks that resulted in RM205.1 billion (estimated) in exports since 2011 to September 2016, contributed by 1,401 exporters. It is forecast that by 2020, Malaysia’s annual halal exports would exceed RM50 billion. "The integrity of halal food products among Muslim consumers as well as those that subscribe to them has been demand-driven. As a result, industry players are confident in their expectations for the halal industry in Malaysia," he said. Jamil said the high performance of HALMAS Halal Park in 2016 saw RM700 million in new investments in the food and beverage sector; RM1,384 million (ingredients sector); and, RM511 million (other sectors). He said by 2020, halal investments were expected to top RM15 billion. Since its establishment in 2006, HDC has been the focal point to coordinate and facilitate the overall development and promotion of the halal industry in Malaysia in concert with various governmental agencies to significantly transform the halal landscape. Jamil listed six HDC’s implementation pillars for success of the halal industry development, including policy and legislation, international footprint, halal enterprise development and bumiputera development. Meanwhile, on the the international front, he said, HDC was targeting Japan, China and ASEAN, particularly, Indonesia and Cambodia. "The plan in Japan is to generate an extra US$10.3 billion (US$1 = RM4.46) through halal industry with a focus on the Olympics 2020 while for China, the country alone has 30 million Muslims with annual halal market growth at 10 per cent. "The One-Belt One-Road strategy, where halal products have been identified as the engine of growth through the Malaysia-China collaborations, would provide access for Malaysia into China’s Muslim population not easily accessible for the others," he said. (US$1 = RM4.46) -- BERNAMA