KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 – The global halal industry is a low hanging fruit waiting for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to harvest, said Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Mohd Yusof.
He said the industry has a huge potential, adding that his ministry is currently working on attracting downstream halal business players to Malaysia, which includes halal gelatine and enzyme producers.
“Currently we mainly do product testings in Malaysia, we do not conduct enough research or commercialise our research.
“So instead of saying one particular drink, for example, is ‘haram’, why don’t we produce the ingredients ourselves and ensure that it is halal?” he said in his keynote address at the SME Conference organised by the British-Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd here, today.
He said the global gelatine market produces about 450,000 tonnes of gelatine, of which only 10 per cent are halal.
“Hence, if you can invest in producing the (halal) gelatine and fit in rightly in your food production for example, you can attract many more companies from all over the world.
“As a country with a Muslim majority population, we believe that there is great potential for Malaysia to venture into this new industry and Malaysia’s halal logo is widely recognised and well-accepted,” added Mohd Redzuan.
During the conference, Standard Chartered and the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creative Center signed a memorandum of understanding to set up SEtia, a programme that aims to amplify the capacities of local social entrepreneurs.
SEtia or Social Entrepreneurs-Transformation, Innovation and Acceleration programme is a capacity-building initiative with a customised syllabus designed to strengthen the development of social entrepreneurs through business coaching and mentoring on business modelling, financial management, innovative marketing strategies, government policies and more.
Standard Chartered will contribute RM200,000 for the one-year programme to support and develop 50 social entrepreneurs. — Bernama
