PUTRAJAYA (April 23): Halal Development Corp (HDC) wants to focus on collaborations to produce more halal-certified ingredients for the food and beverages sector, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

Chairman Khairul Azwan Harun said the country is well positioned to do so, as it is rich in palm oil and its derivatives.

“Malaysia commands about 40% of the world’s palm oil industry. We can produce a lot of halal-certified palm oil-based ingredients,” he told the media during HDC’s Halal Economy Leadership Forum (HELF) 2024 meet-and-greet session here on Tuesday.

Khairul Azwan also said HDC is bullish on achieving RM300 billion worth of exports by 2030 with the help of its strategic partners in Saudi Arabia. HDC recorded almost RM60 billion worth of exports last year.

“It is something realistic with help from our partners in Saudi. We hope the halal trade will make up 11% of gross domestic product by 2030,” he said.

HDC will open more new markets to make Malaysia the regional hub by introducing it as a halal logistics hub, Khairul Azwan said.

Chief executive office Hairol Ariffein Sahari cautioned that the bigger task ahead is to increase the number of local halal-certified companies.

“We need to increase our effort to raise the capacity and capability of halal-certified companies to enter the US$3 trillion (RM14.34 trillion) global halal market, which is expected to rise to US$5 trillion by 2030.

“The size of Malaysia’s halal economy is currently about RM70 billion, and it will be RM113 billion by 2030. It is a huge market,” he stressed.

Hairol said both Saudi and Malaysia will have access to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s 57 member states via the Islamic Development Bank.

“We will be the biggest strategic partner as far as halal economic development is concerned,” he added.

HDC will host the HELF 2024 to extend its global footprint, building on last year’s World Halal Business Conference Circuit achievements in London.

Themed “Navigating Future Opportunities, Embracing Innovation”, the inaugural forum is jointly hosted by the Islamic Development Bank and Saudi’s Halal Products Development Company. The forum runs parallel with the bank’s Private Sector Forum 2024 in Riyadh on April 30 this year.

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/node/709036