Halal foods: Pakistan looking for share in trillion dollar market

Dr Hamid Jalil of PAMCO says Pakistan has 4th largest livestock population in the world with 180 million animals.

LAHORE:

Ahmed Ali Aulakh, Minister for Livestock and Agriculture has said that Pakistan has tremendous potential to export halal meat and by-products. He said that being an agricultural country, we have vast range of animals, and he invited Muslim countries to promote bilateral trade with Pakistan in this sector.

He was speaking at the “2nd International Conference & Expo on Halal Industry” which was jointly organized by Punjab Agriculture & Meat Company, Livestock & Dairy Development Department and the Halal Research Council.

He added that halal industry accounts for $3 trillion and is expanding day by day which demonstrates the extreme importance of this conference. The provincial government has already taken up various projects which are imperative for developing halal value chain especially in the meat sector.

updated from web edition below

Pakistan has potential to be part of $3 trillion Halal industry

He added that the Punjab government was fully committed to accord any assistance in this regard. He pointed out various projects the provincial government had initiated for developing Halal value chains, especially in the meat sector.

The three day conference has been jointly organised by the Punjab Agriculture & Meat Company (PAMCO), Punjab government's Livestock & Dairy Development Department and the Halal Research Council.

He added that the Punjab government had initiated programs on enhancing the Halal and quality meat production through the PAMCO which is linked with the Lahore Meat Processing Complex, which is a state-of-the-art slaughtering & meat processing facility.

“We are also open to any legislation to be made for developing the Halal industry,” Aolukh added.

Dr Hamid Jalil, Chief Executive Officer, PAMCO said that Pakistan had the fourth largest livestock population in the world with 180 million animals growing at 4.2 per cent annually.

“We are in a perfect position to provide Halal products to the world,” adding that the Global Halal certified products market had become a trillion dollar industry, out of which the global Halal meat market had a $440 billion share, with prospects of further rapid growth.

Giving a break-up, he said that the Food & Beverages industry contributes 45 per cent, Pharmaceutical 22 per cent, Halal meat 16 per cent ($440 billion), Cosmetic 10 per cent, Gelatin 7 per cent.

Pakistan’s share was very negligible at around 0.26 per cent ($115 million).

"Pakistan being a genuine gateway to 470 million Muslims holds a great potential for global Halal Industry. This is the right time to encourage international alliances by facilitating entrepreneurs to evaluate Pakistan as an emerging market for Halal Products & Services."

Addressing the conference, Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh, secretary Livestock & dairy Development Department, said that there was no doubt that the Halal industry, especially the meat sector had attained much attraction, not only from the global Muslim community but also from non-Muslim communities.

Sheikh added that this conference was aimed at exploring potential, scope, opportunities and requirements to tap the $3 trillion industry so that the ever increasing demand for Halal products could be fulfilled. He said that he sure that this way forward will lead us towards attaining the goal of this conference.

Justice (r) Khalil-u-Rehman, Chairman Halal R&D Cell, PAMCO threw light on the philosophy of Halal.

“Halal is not a mystical religious ritual, it is the science of well-being. Halal has become a global issue, which now plays a role in government policies, multinational corporate strategies, SME development, Research & Development and Marketing. Halal has a major impact in the food sector and is equally important for financing, manufacturing, processing, retail, restaurant, traveling and hospitality sector,” adding that with a stake in commercial sectors worldwide, development in the Halal sector had become a significant contributor to all facets of economic growth.

Muhammad Zubair Mughal, Chief Executive Officer, Halal Research Council said, “The establishment of the Halal Research Council and development of the Halal Research and Development of the cell under an able leadership of Justice (R) Khalil-ur-Rahman under the umbrella of PAMCO is a great and positive step, for which, I congratulate the initiatives taken by Dr Hamid Jalil – CEO PAMCO and Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh, the Secretary, Livestock, Government of the Punjab.”

Mughal added that the Halal Research Council planned to promote Pakistan’s Halal image on the global stage by organising the fourth International Conferences in Mauritius, South Africa, Sri Lanka and UAE. A road show from Khyber to Karachi was also in the pipeline, scheduled for October 2012 for promoting the importance of the Halal industry in Pakistan.

Participants from 15 countries participated in the conference and stalls were setup displaying Halal products.

Prominent  personalities form different sectors participated in the conference.

The conference will continue till Wednesday. While on the first day scholars from different countries presented their research papers, on the second day there would be field visits to Certified Quality Operations/WTO Lab- University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences Lahore and Lahore Meat Processing Complex, a flagship project of PAMCO.

The Minister for Livestock and Agriculture congratulated the Punjab Agriculture & Meat Company, Livestock & Dairy Development Department and Halal Research Council for organising the International conference.