Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe has announced his government’s plans to double halal food export by 2020.

Japan plans to increase its export of halal food as demand for Japanese food grows in Muslim countries in the Middle-East and Asia. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced plans to double exports by 2020 in a move that will bring an extra $10.3 billion to the country.

The Kuwait News Agency reported that the Japanese government is prepared to pay for half of the costs involved in upgrading processing facilities to make them compliant to halal standards.

The Japanese government hopes to increase beef exports in particular. At the moment Hong Kong and Thailand are the main customers of Japanese beef, but there is also a high demand for it in the UAE. They also aim to expand the market to Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Malaysia.

*This article was published by World Bulletin. Read the original article here.