Good turnout: Ahmad Zahid (right) at the 2024 Halal Ecosystem Transformation Workshop in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: The country’s halal industry players should be judicious when sharing knowledge, strategies and marketing tactics on halal product certification and production with other countries in order to maintain Malaysia’s edge in the area, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Halal Industry Development Council chairman, said excessive information sharing may cause other countries to imitate Malaysia’s approach, thereby affecting the country’s position as a leader in halal products since 1974.
“For example, Malaysia used to be the number one producer and exporter of rubber and palm commodities in the world, including the leader in Islamic banking. But we are forced to accept when we fall behind compared with neighbouring countries because we share too much knowledge and strategies,” he said when launching the 2024 Halal Ecosystem Transformation Workshop yesterday, Bernama reported.
He said the attitude of being too “kind” and sharing technology and knowledge needs to be controlled for the sake of the country.
“If we are too kind to share everything ... in the end we are left behind,” he added.
The Halal Ecosystem Transformation Workshop 2024 is a programme jointly organised by the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry, Halal Development Corporation (HDC), Islamic Development Department Malaysia (Jakim) and the Bumiputra Economic Congress secretariat.
It was attended by approximately 100 participants, including Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar and Mara chairman Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.
In his speech, Ahmad Zahid said coordination between various agencies, departments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) needs to be intensified to ensure Malaysia remains a leader, not only in halal certification but also in the production of halal products, including Islamic banking services and others.
“Our intentions and goals are good, but how can the coordination be done so that our stakeholders are not confused?
“We must avoid a situation where all parties have the same goal, but act in different ways,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid also emphasised the importance of Malaysia maintaining its position in the halal industry since its national certification is widely recognised by Muslim and non-Muslim countries around the world.
In fact, he said halal industry players should take advantage of the exciting market-based opportunities for the global halal economy which is expected to reach US$5 trillion (RM21 trillion) by 2030 from US$3 trillion (RM12.6 trillion) this year.
“The market is big, but how much is our contribution from that amount? Our export of halal products is only RM53.7bil. Although in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) we contribute 8.1% to the export of halal products, the reality is that it is still very, very small,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid also said that although Malaysia has been involved in the halal industry for almost 50 years, the country still does not have a strong halal policy.
Thus, he emphasised the need to establish a halal research and innovation centre, even though Jakim has started efforts in that field.
“As an institution, leaders come and go because the directors of the halal certification department also have to go on compulsory retirement even though there is more work to be done. So, we should take advantage of their expertise after they retire,” he added.
Ahmad Zahid suggested that the research centre invite retired experts, in addition to new experts, and conduct innovation on halal products and services.
He also said that starting next year, September will be designated as the annual Halal Product Month.
