News From : DagangHalal.com (07 Oct 2010)
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed early August this year in Lahore, between Haji Abdul Malik Kassim (Minister of Trade & Religious Affairs of Penang State Government, Malaysia, and Chairman of Penang International Halal Hub or PIHH), and Mr. Asad Sajjad (Secretary General and CEO of Halal Development Council, Pakistan).
Halal Development Council is the only registered non-government organisation in Pakistan dedicated to the development of Halal Economy, thereby increasing trade and business within the country and exports from Pakistan. Under the MoU, the Halal Development Council will have exclusive co-operation with Penang International Halal Hub, Malaysia, to provide technical advice and consultancy on development of Halal Industrial Parks in Pakistan.
Speaking at the occasion, Haji Abdul Malik said that Malaysia has a strong presence in the market of Halal products. “We do not want to compete, rather we are focusing on complementing each other,” he maintained.
He added that the Penang State Government has become a major player in Halal trade in the last two and half years and special efforts would be made on establishment of Halal Industrial Parks in Pakistan.
“Today’s MoU is a broad understanding between two parties which will hopefully lead to greater trade relations and we hope that Pakistan would become a player in the Halal products market as well as keeping in view its vast potential.” He added that investments by local as well as foreign entrepreneurs would be encouraged in this regard.
Mr. Asad said that although everything in Pakistan is Halal, Pakistan’s exports are not Halal-certified, thereby losing billions of dollars in trade potential. “We have a strong identity as a Muslim country, but we are not recognised as suppliers of Halal-certified products in the international market,” he added, saying that the Halal Development Council’s goal is to get Pakistani products certified as Halal products. He said Pakistan has a vast potential in exporting Halal products. “We have raw materials and the manpower, and we need to capitalise on these resources effectively.” He was of the view that the ultimate goal of this exercise was to establish Halal Products Export Zones.
– The Halal Journal