News From : DagangHalal.com (23 Apr 2009)
GEORGE TOWN: The state and the Henan province in China will work together to promote the halal industry, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said.
He said that Henan, with a Muslim population of 2 million, was an important gateway to penetrate into other parts of China.
Lim said that besides the middle-east countries, Indonesia and Thailand, Henan was one of the recent province that the state government was working with.
“With such cooperation, Penang will benefit in terms of economy,’’ he told reporters after a courtesy call from a delegation from the Henan’s Long Mai Global Chamber of Commerce and Industry Wednesday.
The delegation was led by Albert Hsiu, who is the Long Mai group executive president.
Lim said the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs committee chairman Abdul Malik Abdul Kassim was heading the promotion of the halal industry, and he was pushing for the state to be the top halal port in the country.
Abdul Malik said that the partnership between Penang and Henan was established two weeks ago to help promote the halal industry.
“A delegation from Penang will be visiting Henan in the middle of May to further establish a relationship in the commerce and industry sector.
“We have suggested that Penang become the gateway for Islamic countries especially the middle-east countries and Africa to get goods from China,’’ he said.
Abdul Malik said Henan was interested to use Penang as their base and to get the halal certification from here.
Source:http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/4/15/nation/20090415155958&sec=nation