News From : DagangHalal.com (05 Apr 2009)
XIAN, April 5 (Bernama) — China’s Shaanxi province is wooing Malaysia to help develop a halal park and certification in the region famous for its army of terracotta warriors.
Entrepreneur and Coooperative Development Ministry (MECD) Deputy Secretary-General Datuk Mohd Hashim Abdullah said Shaanxi planned to build the halal hub within its free trade zone in Xianyang near this provincial capital.
“The ministry will study the proposal first before referring it to the Cabinet for decision,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of Shaanxi’s annual Investment and Trade Forum for Cooperation between East and West China which opened here Sunday.
He said that for such projects, it would be up to the private sector to take the lead in with the ministry supporting them as a facilitator.
“Shaanxi is also looking for investments for the halal park. This is an opportunity towards a collaboration between Shaanxi and Malaysian entrepreneurs and we have the halal expertise that is well-recognised globally,” said Hashim.
To build on the momentum, he suggested to Shaanxi commerce director-general Li Xuemei, in a meeting Saturday, that the two sides set up a joint chamber of commerce for networking and business matching.
Li welcomed the idea, saying it would boost cooperation and give entrepreneurs a better understanding of trade and investments with each other.
“We hope to have further cooperation with MECD. Shaanxi offers good opportunities in investments, trading, heavy machinery industry, infrastructure construction and minerals,” she said.
“We will also encourage our entrepreneurs to import products which are special to Malaysia,” she said.
Shaanxi has a population of 37.5 million and about 80,000 to 100,000 of them are Muslims.
“This is a big market and the most important thing for us is that Shaanxi wants to collaborate with Malaysian entrepreneurs through MECD,” Hashim said.
He said Shaanxi commerce officials have visited Malaysia twice for discussions with the ministry after MECD first attended the annual fair here last year.
This time, the ministry brought a group of 28 of mostly halal food producers, cooperatives and the Malay Chamber of Commerce to take part in the four-day fair that has attracted several other Southeast Asian countries, namely, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and, Myanmar.
— BERNAMA
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Source:http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=401848