The Terengganu Halal Hub wants to be more than the usual centre for Halal food and products. It has more foresight than that!
It hopes to link close cooperation with neighbours Kelantan and Pattani, Thailand to establish a Halal food corridor and a global and regional agro business triangle.
Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Idrus Jusoh said the hub will not only improve the state’s economic well being but will also transform the agriculture sector making it viable to compete globally.
Its other goals are to provide the farmers and others involved in the agriculture sector with more economic opportunities and to improve their community life.
At the same time, it is a constructive way to get Muslims to work together with a united goal of developing and strengthening the Halal food industry at the international level.
The international and domestic market can be rest assured that all products produces and manufactured at the Terengganu Halal Hub are of quality, reliable and competitive.
“To identify products which have internationally demand, concerted efforts have been taken to develop a strategic master plan through the Terengganu Halal Hub project,” Idrus said.
Amongst other, it is aimed at transforming the state’s agriculture industrial plan to a more commercial one and to ensure that local farmers get a taste of the global market.
“The project will merge the various agriculture sectors such as farming, fishery and cattle rearing into a productive, competitive and solid producer of Halal food that is able to compete globally,” Idrus said.
The agriculture sector greatly needs a paradigm shift from being a traditional industry to an economic contributor.
“The state Government had set up Terengganu Food Development Corporation Sdn Bhd in June 2003 to ensure the hub is developed and meets its targets,” Idris said.
An implementation blue print will be formulated to outline long term planning as well as immediate and short term plans. It will encompass all sectors in Terengganu to provide an effective and conducive environment.
“We have taken great measures to re-examine at the direction of the state’s agriculture sector and have restructured the agriculture community through training schemes, exposure to information technology and active involvement of cooperations and the private sector,” Idrus said.
The objectives of the Terengganu Halal Hub are to jump start economic activities in the state for example in the manufacturing, processing, packaging, transport, insurance, health services, research and development among others.
“We hope the development of such a project will in the long run provide new job opportunities in the food industry and thus increase household income.
“There are needs to increase the skilled labour in the state and at the same time attract other skilled professionals from the country to come to Terengganu,” Idris said, adding that the hub would be able to meet these objectives.
Malaysia has been widely recognised as an Islamic country and the Halal food industry is able to create an elevated platform for bilateral ties with other Islamic states.
“The food industry is a multi-prong strategy to answer global questions on poverty eradiction and increasing world population,” Idrus said, adding that it was also part of one’s fardu kifayah.
Although only in its planning stage, the Terengganu Halal Hub has set itself in the right direction to become a major player in the nation’s Halal food industry.
**This article was first published in The Halal Journal Pilot Issue (August 2004).