Malaysia believes that the Halal industry has a potential to succeed as a new source of economic growth. To realize this aspiration, the government of Malaysia has put in place measures to support the industry for growth, and has committed itself to becoming one of the most trusted and relied upon Halal providers in the world. In making Malaysia a centre for production and trade of halal goods and services, strategies under the Third Industrial Master Plan (IMP-3) were developed.
Placed strategically within the Asia Pacific region, Malaysia is recognized internationally for being a modern and progressive Islamic country with an open economy offering competitive business incentives. Blessed with economic and political stability as well as well-developed physical and institutional infrastructures, Malaysia is well-positioned in being the leader in developing the Halal industry.
The United Nations has cited Malaysia as the best example in the world in terms of rationalization for the labeling of Halal
food when the Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted the Codex general guidelines for the use of the term Halal in Geneva in 1997. Malaysia's active role in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and position as the home of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) further enhance the country's standing as the market leader in the provisioning of halal products and services throughout the world.
The establishment of the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC), in addition to Malaysia’s Halal Certification and Malaysian Halal Standards MS1500:2004, provides strong support in making sure that Malaysia is ready for the industrial and commercial set up to produce and market halal products and services.
OVERVIEW OF HALAL INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA
With strong support from the government, Malaysia is on its way to becoming the centre for the production and distribution of halal products and services, as well as the knowledge and research & development centre for halal matters.
The growing interest in the potential market has hasten the move towards the development of global standards as well as expanded the coverage of standards to include activities such as logistics and packaging.
Malaysia has the edge in the development of the Halal industry as it is a modern Islamic country with an open economy and a well developed physical and institutional infrastructure, capable of supporting initiatives and programmes to develop and promote the industry.
Further, Malaysia has unique advantages in developing and promoting the Halal products and services industry as:
- It is viewed as a progressive Islamic and business friendly country by both Muslim and non-Muslim world communities;
- It has established a firm industrial base and is progressing towards a higher level of industrialization;
- It is strategically located within the Asia Pacific region, with potential benefits from the presence of major areas of production and consumption;
- It has created a conducive operating environment, in particular, necessary policies and an efficient institutional infrastructure to support the development of the industry.
- It makes available halal end-to-end services from halal product traceability to Islamic Finance facilitation
- It provides easier trade and market access into member countries of Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC)
- It is a nation which has enjoyed long period of political stability
- Its effort in championing the halal industry is strongly supported by the Government Ministry, Agency and NGOs in Malaysia
|
