Task force to look into halal parks development

SEPANG: The government has set up a task force aimed at coordinating the development of halal industrial parks and identifying constraints faced by state governments, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

As chairman of the Halal Industry Development Council, he said that only 11% of the 5260.91ha of land allocated by state governments for halal industrial parks have been developed since 2009.

“This means state governments are committed to (developing) the halal industry, but perhaps there are several constraints.

“We decided to set up the task force and I will chair it with the cooperation of all state governments.

“We will get their feedback and coordinate on the constraints that can be tackled by the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti), the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim) and Halal Development Corporation Bhd (HDC),” he said after chairing the Halal Industry Development Council meeting here yesterday.

Ahmad Zahid said the constraints identified so far included a lack of incentives and infrastructure, reported BK.

“I will take a hands-on approach to find out what the real problems are,” he said, adding that the local halal industry needed to enter the global halal market, which is estimated to be worth US$5 trillion (RM23.6 trillion) by 2030.

“Miti has worked hard with HDC to enter the international halal market as 81% of halal products are centred on the food and beverage market, while there are so many other halal sectors, such as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, but we have only focused on the former and only managed to dominate the local market,” he said.

Other matters discussed at the meeting included the implementation of the Halal Industry Master Plan 2030, improvements to certification administration, the organising of the Malaysia International Halal Showcase, and improvements to the halal certification digitalisation infrastructure.