Total exports for the halal industry has touched the 10 billion ringgit (US$2.44 billion) mark, recording a 17.8 per cent growth to 10.8 billion ringgit in the first quarter of this year, compared with 9.1 billion ringgit in the same period a year earlier.
This was mainly contributed by exports to China, which stood at 1.17 billion ringgit, followed by the United States at 1 billion ringgit and Singapore 807.58 million ringgit.
A significant bulk of it was contributed by the food and beverage products, which stood at 5.67 billion ringgit, a 59 per cent increase from 3.5 billion ringgit in the previous corresponding period.
Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) chief executive officer Jamil Bidin said halal exports stood at 38 billion ringgit last year from 32 billion ringgit a year earlier and was expected to rise.
“As one of the country’s engines of growth, the halal industry is expected to contribute 5.8 per cent to the gross domestic product by 2020 from less than 2 per cent currently,” he told StarBiz in an interview yesterday.
The global halal market is currently estimated at $2.3 trillion covering both food and non-food sectors.
It is expected that the sector would be worth some $6.4 trillion in 2018, with the increasing Muslim population, which is estimated to grow to 8.2 billion in 2030 from 1.8 billion currently.
The halal market has attracted many parties, with top clients from China, the United States, Singapore, Netherlands and Japan.
The Philippines has already expressed its interest to embark on the sector.
As such, the HDC would be organising the Halal Ingredients Asia 2015, with the focus of emphasising the importance of opportunities for local halal ingredient players to international buyers.
This is because halal ingredients, essential to the development of halal products, is strongly supported by the palm oil derivatives.
HDC is also focusing on a Saudi Arabian-owned halal vaccine plant, AJ Pharma Holding, which would commence operations in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan in 2017.
*This article was originally published on Jakarta Post on 19 August 2015. Read the original article here.