News From : DagangHalal.com (21 Aug 2009)
THE government has set up a scheme to guarantee loans for companies in the halal industry and help them expand business abroad.
The Halal Industry Development Corp (HDC) has roped in four Islamic lenders to participate in the scheme so far.
They are Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Bhd, Maybank Islamic Bhd, HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd and CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd.
HDC and the banks signed memorandum of agreements (MoA) at an event witnessed by deputy finance minister Senator Datuk Awang Adek Husin in Petaling Jaya yesterday.
“The Islamic financial products are very much compatible to the needs of the halal industry. Thus, I would like to encourage companies to make use of the government guarantee scheme when applying for the financial facilities from financial institutions,” Awang Adek said.
HDC will recommend eligible companies to the banks for loans.
“This is just a start. HDC will later expand such guarantee scheme to other Islamic financial institutions. The scheme is open to all Islamic financial institutions.”
Awang Adek said the global market value for trade in halal food and non-food products is estimated at US$2.1 trillion annually.
For halal food alone, he said it has a market size of US$635 billion (RM2.24 trillion), a significant jump from US$587 billion (RM2.07 trillion) in 2004.
“The global market size is projected to increase to US$642 billion (RM2.26 trillion) in 2010,” he said.
Source: Business Times