News From : DagangHalal.com (01 Jun 2009)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The Japanese government is boosting efforts of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to fully develop its halal industry, officials said over the weekend. Japan is funding the construction of a P5.6-million halal laboratory facility in Cotabato City that will be managed by ARMM’s Department of Science and Technology.
The country remains unable to penetrate the global halal market, with officials at the Department of Agriculture saying the Philippines “can earn $5 billion annually if it can tap just 1% of the $500-billion global halal industry.” ARMM executives earlier bewailed efforts to promote only Davao and Cagayan de Oro as the country’s major halal production centers in the southern Philippines.
Source: Business World Online