ASEAN Halal Council Among Key Topics At October Summit - Ahmad Zahid

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- One of Malaysia's main agendas at the ASEAN Summit next month will be the proposal to establish an ASEAN Halal Council, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said the formation of the council is crucial, given the huge potential of the halal industry market in the region, which needs to be developed to provide mutual benefits to ASEAN countries in marketing halal products.

"The setting up of this council is one of the key agendas at the coming ASEAN Summit.

"I have invited Vietnam to send a representative because we have a regional halal market of about 640 million people. Before we move to a higher level, this huge halal market needs to be developed first,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also the National Halal Council chairman, said this at a joint press conference with Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister, Tran Hong Ha, here today.

Ahmad Zahid added that Vietnam had also stated its willingness to join the ASEAN Halal Council, which is expected to be jointly led by Malaysia and Indonesia.

Earlier, Ahmad Zahid and Tran Hong Ha held a meeting for about 30 minutes to discuss, among others, the development of the halal industry of both countries, including Malaysia's willingness to assist Vietnam develop its halal industry through certification by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) and providing relevant training.

Meanwhile, he said that Malaysia and Vietnam also agreed to explore a new collaboration to set up a halal industrial park in Vietnam, in tandem with existing cooperation between Jakim and four agencies in the republic for halal certification purposes.

"Cooperation in halal matters need not necessarily be confined to food and beverages, but also include pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, gelatine and various other products,” he said.

He said one of Vietnam's main interests is to learn from Malaysia's experience in developing the halal ecosystem, given that Jakim has handled halal certification for the past 51 years.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said that both parties also discussed aspects of bilateral trade between Malaysia and Vietnam, which currently sees Malaysia enjoying a positive trade balance.

“They have requested efforts to be made to ensure that our traders and consumers receive more products from Vietnam, particularly halal products, and we will work on this,” he said.

-- BERNAMA