ILOILO City – On a Halal showcase promotion Monday, local business leaders expressed their willingness to explore Halal market as complement to the campaign of the Tourism department to turn the city as top destination for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE).
During the promotion of Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS), which is set to host Philippine businesses in the Halal sector, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation commissioner Siti Azlina introduced the Halal market to local businessmen and government officials.
She said the Halal market is an “in thing” that many are interested to engage.
“Halal does not solely uphold Islamic compliant rules and regulations but also food safety, hygiene, and cleanliness,” Azlina said.
In 2018, Halal market is about $2.2 trillion and is expected to reach $3.4 trillion in 2040.
Iloilo Business Club executive director Lea Lara said the city wants to take part in the Halal market.
“It’s a trillion-dollar market. We are not even there. That is something we can divulge into as a serious MICE player in Asia,” she said.
Halal tourism does not only require Halal-certified food but also cosmetics, construction, pharmaceuticals, and services, among others, she added.
The MICE industry in this city needs to be “capacitated” as hotels and restaurants, which host events, still import food that conforms with Halal requirements.
“We are looking at investments, of Halal-certified slaughterhouse from food chain to warehouse to production line in Iloilo. They can help us,” she said.
Lara said the city does not yet have any establishment that is Halal-certified.
Iloilo Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants Association spokesperson Happy Abenir said the industry in this city is anticipating seminars regarding Halal.
“We also would like our members to look at that portion of the tourism industry. It’s something new for us but we will try to get into that,” she said.
Meanwhile, Azlina stated the Philippines has seven or eight Halal certifiers and urged small to medium enterprises to coordinate with these certifiers with regards to the requirements needed to be certified as Halal.
The Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Science and Technology also organized a lot of training on Halal to give information on companies to be compliant, she added. (with a report from PNA/PN)
