Malaysia sets up entity to govern halal development, investment

Malaysia will establish a new commission to oversee halal development and foster investment across the sector. 

The entity, which will hold sole dominion over halal development, will serve as a reference and a standards hub for the global halal industry, Malaysia’s state-news agency Bernama said, citing an official document released by the country’s ministry of economy.  

“The market expansion programme for halal products and services to the international level will be strengthened to support the scaling up of small and medium enterprises in the halal industry,” said the 13th Malaysia Plan document. 

The initiative is part of the country’s broader efforts to transform its halal ecosystem and bolster the sector’s contribution to the national growth, 

The role of the halal industrial parks will be reinforced to facilitate the development of high-value halal industry, the document added. 

Malaysian premier Anwar Ibrahim said that the government aims to ramp up the country’s halal export to 80 billion Malaysian ringgits, whilst increasing the sector’s contribution to GDP to 11%. 

The halal industry contributed 149 billion Malaysian ringgits to the national economy last year, making up 7.7% of the GDP.