The global market for halal products is US$560 billion (RM2.12 trillion) a year- Part 2.
Food production needs to diversify to strengthen the up and coming halal food hubs.
Industries keen on going big scale in food production should look at the endless possibilities of value added products, but should not confine itself to food of their ethnic origins only, but must broaden their horizons to food from other cultures.
Malaysia is not competitive to sell raw material but it has the elements to be a trading nation. What Malaysia can do, is to bring in raw material, turn them into halal value added products, and sell them to the global market. This is where halal hubs play its role.
Halal hub means export capable. Therefore the halal hub and the food production sector should complement each other.
Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan and Third National Agriculture Policy, the Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry wants to transform Malaysia into a net food exporter by 2010.
And the country seems to be on the right track. Malaysia has been widely recognised for its excellent halal standards, which is further strengthened by the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia’s (JAKIM) halal certification. “[Our halal certification] is widely, in fact, internationally recognised,” its department’s director general Datuk Mustafa Abdul Rahman says.
The United Nations has also recognised Malaysia as the best example in producing halal food products. In 1993, JAKIM was awarded the leader in halal certification by IFANCA and in 2004 the same award was given by the Islamic Food Council of Europe. In August 2004, JAKIM, with the Standards Department Malaysia launched the Malaysian Halal Standard MS 1500:2004, being the first halal standard in the world developed based on international standards..
Many countries - be they Islamic or non-Islamic - want to be the number one player of the world's halal industries. Malaysia is one of them. International halal industry players acknowledge Malaysia’s competitive edges: it has been recognised as an Islamic country; has raw materials, supporting infrastructure as well as state-of-the-art processing technology; internationally-approved JAKIM's halal certification and a strong backup and blessing from the government. There is no stopping Malaysia from reaching its goals.
Pulau Indah -1st Halal Hub In Malaysia
The Selangor Halal Hub (SHH) is a fully-integrated development specialising in upstream and downstream manufacturing and processing of halal products. SHH provides a one-stop facility for fast track approval from the relevant bodies and assistance to obtaining the Global Halal status.
Northport Supporting Halal hub
Northport is Malaysia's largest operator of multi-purpose port, handling 60% of the nation's trade. It is also Malaysia's pioneer port bringing along with it 103 years of rich heritage in port dynamics. 81 shipping lines as well as 44 conventional and 502 container vessels made approximately 8,000 ship calls to Northport last year, providing services to 300 ports of call in major parts of the world.
Northport is a major hub port and an integral component of the transportation pipeline in the region. With increased connectivity to ports in China and the East Asia and increase in the spread of services linking US ports, the Mediterranean and Europe, Northport now offers more links to worldwide ports than any other port in Malaysia and has emerged as one of the most important hub ports in the region.
Northport is developing a dedicated terminal to be operational in two years time to cater to Suez Max class vessels of 12,000 TEUs. The development is part of the RM585mil expansion plan announced this year by the port operating company. The port's initiative is in line with the evolving shipping industry, which will have giant container ships to be in service by 2010. Global liner operators at large are building ultra large ships to further reduce cost by economies of scale.
With a current capacity to handle 4.6 million TEUs, Northport services more than 75 global liner operators, including Maersk and the Grand Alliance shipping consortia. The liners link Northport with more than 250 ports worldwide.
