The proposal to set up an Asean halal council will be one of Malaysia’s main agendas for the Asean Summit next month, said deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said the formation of the council is crucial, given the huge potential of the halal industry market in the region.
“I have invited Vietnam to send a representative because we have a regional halal market of about 640 million people. Before we move to a higher level, this huge halal market needs to be developed first,” he said.
Zahid said after meeting his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Hong Ha that Vietnam had stated its willingness to join the Asean halal council, which is expected to be jointly led by Malaysia and Indonesia.
Zahid and Tran met for about 30 minutes to discuss the development of the halal industry of both countries, including Malaysia’s willingness to assist Vietnam in developing its halal industry through certification by the Islamic development department (Jakim) and providing relevant training.
The two countries also agreed to explore a new collaboration to set up a halal industrial park in Vietnam, in tandem with existing cooperation between Jakim and four agencies in the republic for halal certification purposes.
“Cooperation in halal matters need not necessarily be confined to food and beverages, but also include pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, gelatine and various other products,” Zahid said.
He said one of Vietnam’s main interests is to learn from Malaysia’s experience in developing the halal ecosystem, given that Jakim has handled halal certification for the past 51 years.
