Philippines to step up promotion of halal industry in 2016

Photo: CUBAO,QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES, OCTOBER 4, 2015: Jeepney waiting for passengers / Wuttichai jantarak / Shutterstock.com

Philippines' Department of Tourism (DOT) and National Commission on Muslim Filipinos will step up promotion of the halal industry in 2016, reported local press. 

The national project will look into the whole halal ecosystem including food, travel, lifestyle, and finance.

Halal tourism is a priority. The Philippine Halal Tourism Project is targeting 50 industry players nationwide to adopt halal principles for their businesses, said the report. Of these 50, 10 will be in Davao, 20 in the capital Manila, 10 in Cebu, and 10 in Boracay.

"...if one would want to be halal-certified, DOT will guide and assist them how to adopt with halal, because with our initial study a lot of players would want to embrace halal practices; however, the challenge is these players are not guided as to who will they tap to be certified, what are the requirements, and how much will it cost," added the report citing the chair of the Halal Committee of the Tourism Congress and founder of the Mindanao Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Marilou W. Ampuan. 

The target is to certify the 10 Davao City establishments as halal by April, added the report.

The Department of Tourism, said the report, is working with Singapore-based CrescentRating to build its halal tourism credentials.