(FEATURES ARKIB : 16/02/2004 from http://www.utusanonline.com.my/)
KUALA LUMPUR - Much have been said about making Malaysia a hub for halal food but has the country become one yet?
The Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) has been issuing halal certificates since 1974 and if this is taken as a benchmark, the halal issue itself has been around for the last 30 years or so.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in launching the 2003 Islamic Economic Development Week at Putra World Trade Centre last December has again touched on this halal hub issue.
In his speech, he reminded local manufacturers not only to rely on the halal label to sell their products but also to give emphasis on the qualities of their products in order to turn Malaysia into a hub for halal food.
The Prime Minister also wanted the local manufacturers to gain knowledge on science and technology so as to add value to their foodstuff from time to time.
Without doubt, the government is very serious about turning Malaysia into a halal hub and a committee known as the Technical Committee on Developing Malaysia as the Regional Hub for Halal Products was specifically set up last year for this purpose. It is chaired by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).
The figures on the global halal food market are so huge that some analysts even used the term "colossal".
According to MITI, quoting sources from the International Market Bureau Canada, the total world Muslim population is estimated to be 1.8 billion and based on the estimated expenditure per capita for food of US$0.85 (RM3.23) a day, it is estimated that the market for halal products is US$560 billion (RM2.12 trillion) a year!
In Malaysia, 60 percent of the population are Muslims and if one were to estimate the per capita expenditure for food as RM1 a day, then the demand for halal products is more than RM5 billion a year.
According to MITI, at present there are no comprehensive figures on the performance of halal food production in Malaysia but the size of the market can be seen by looking at the import and export of processed food.
In 2002, import of processed food was valued at RM5.7 billion whilst export was RM4.7 billion. According to MITI, quoting figures from the Statistics Department, between January 2003 to October 2003, the production of selected food was valued at RM9.6 billion.
From 1995 to June 2003, the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) has issued licences to 424 food manufacturing companies with a total investment of RM5.9 billion.
Based on the feedback from MITI, Malaysian manufacturers have been successfully exporting processed foodstuffs to 80 countries.
Three main market for livestock-based products are ASEAN (Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand), Middle East/West Asia (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq) and Europe (United Kingdom, France and Germany).
Malaysian manufacturers have to do more to claim their share of the global halal food business as their export figures are relatively small compared to the volume of the global halal food market.
According to MITI, among the problems faced by the local manufacturers is that they lack the competitive edge compared to advanced nations in terms of processing technology (1), product quality(2), Research & Development (R&D) (3), distribution network (4) and brand building (5).
In the quest for the nation to set up the halal hub, MITI has been given the task to coordinate the policy and development programme of halal products.
Among the initiatives given due attention are the standardisation of the process and procedures for halal certification, coordination of the development of the halal standard and enforcement of laws.
MITI also from time to time holds discussion with the industry on issues and problems which need to be rectified in order to realise the objectives of halal products development besides holding discussion and organising investment mission overseas.
It is a well-known fact that Malaysia depends a lot on import of raw materials.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who took over the Agriculture Ministry has said that his priority now is to increase the country's food production.
Generally speaking, halal food is always associated with meat-based products and Malaysia does not produce enough livestock to meet the demand of the manufacturers both for domestic and overseas market.
For beef and buffalo meat, for instance, figures made available by the Ministry of Agriculture showed that from January 2003 to September 2003, Malaysia's import was valued at RM338.24 million compared to its own production of RM299.80 million for 2003.
The import countries include India, Australia, New Zealand, United States of America and People's Republic of China. For chicken and duck meat, the import for January to September 2003 was RM123.88 million compared to total production of RM3.37 billion for the whole of 2003.
President of the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (FOMCA), Prof Datuk Hamdan Adnan said the focus now should be increasing the nation's livestock production.
"Halal hub is basically about the meat-based industry. Right now, we are relying on imports. The government may need to revive Majuternak or set up a new agency that will be more aggressive than its predecessor to take up cattle, goats and sheep farming for example," he said.
The FOMCA President also said that efforts should be made to entice youths in the villages to stay put and embark on cattle or chicken farming.
"If we can show them that they can earn big money out of it, I am sure they will not leave for the city. We have enough lands. We have been talking about turning palm oil and rubber estates to include cattle rearing as they are less destructive. This is already a value-added business," he noted.
Group Chief Executive of Prima Agri-Products Sdn Bhd, Datuk Jamaluddin A. Kadir is of the opinion that Malaysia should concentrate on value added instead of becoming a livestock producer.
His company has been involved in processing and manufacturing of halal meat-based products since 1987.
About 70 percent of their products are for domestic market and the balance for export to countries like Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, European Union, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
"Malaysia is already an affluent society where the cost of living is higher. We have seen factories need to be relocated because of shortage of workers. If the government wants to create a halal hub, it is timely but the focus must be right. If you go back to basic, it will take a longer time and not competitive.
"We are talking about competitive advantage. Are we competitive enough to produce the raw materials? If we rear our own, our cost of production will be high and our products may not be competitive," said Jamaluddin.
However, in terms of chicken production, Malaysia could explore to develop an EU-approved plant like what Thailand has as this is a prerequisite for any chicken-based products to enter the European market.
He said that the government also needs to understand the requirement of the industry and to support their marketing strategies.
"In Europe, for example, when we penetrate the market, we have to do it alone, likewise Thailand is going on a country basis to export its chicken to Europe," he explained.
Whatever the argument is, the government needs to strategise. Epidemics such as the mad cow disease and the avian flu should be a good lesson, in that Malaysia, to a certain extend, needs to be self-sufficient with no compromise on farming standard in order to avoid any occurrence of such epidemics! - Bernama
