MANILA – The government aims to increase the country’s exports of halal products by 6 to 8 percent to around USD605 million this year, as it intensifies promotion efforts to gain a share of the USD3.2-trillion world halal market.
In a press briefing, Anthony Rivera, assistant director at the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau, said exports of indicative halal products reached USD560 million in 2018.
Rivera said food and non-alcoholic beverages comprised 90 percent of the halal exports last year; while other major products included cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and detergents.
“But those are indicative, those are presumed halal because they exported to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Middle East and African countries, Southeast Asia and other Asian countries,” he said.
DTI Undersecretary for the Trade Promotions Group Abdulgani Macatoman said local halal firms participated in Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS), Gulfood in Dubai, and Brunei Halal Showcase (BruHAS), among others.
“We capacitate our MSMEs, halal producers. We assist them not only in national trade fairs to sell, access the markets (but also) in international markets like we bring them to MIHAS. We help them to access the mainstream global halal market in the Middle East where the demand is huge, and neighboring Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei (Darussalam),” he said.
But Macatoman noted that the halal market is not only for the estimated 2 billion Muslims, some one-fourth of world population, but for every person who prefers healthy food and ethical standards in food consumption and business relationships.
He also pushed for a strong policy direction for international recognition of halal food products from the country by seeking wide international recognition of Philippine halal certification with certifying bodies in other Muslim countries.
Macatoman said the Philippines currently has more than a thousand halal-certified products.
Rivera further said the government aims for a halal ecosystem that will assure halal-consuming markets that the Philippines is indeed a source of halal-compliant products. (PNA)
