Halal confab in Manila starts tomorrow

The Philippines will hold the 1st National Halal Convention tomorrow and Thursday at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City.

The convention, which will discuss the business opportunities and development of the Halal food sector and the importance of Halal products in domestic and global markets, is a joint undertaking of the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Tourism, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, DTI-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and the Office of Muslim Affairs.

The convention will have sessions on priorities and challenges of the Philippine Halal industry, exporting and business potentials, with speakers from Malaysia and Thailand who will also share their Halal promotion strategies.

“Halal,” which literally means permissible in Islam, is a billion-dollar food industry waiting to be tapped by the Philippine food industry.

The Philippine National Standard for Halal food was promulgated in February this year.

Halal has evolved from a concern on faith and religious practice to a now cultural norm even with the non-Muslim, brought about by the demand in the global market for healthy and safety products.

The global market for Halal products is growing fast – for food products alone, the market is around $550-billion, according to Malaysian statistical data.

In the Philippines, there are about 10 million Muslims who are automatically prospective consumers of Halal products.

Also in Malaysia, there are about 20 million Muslims while in the Middle East, 300 million or approximately 1.5 billion in the rest of the world market.*