Pakistan has potential to triple halal food exports

Malaysia says Pakistan could be global halal market leader.

LAHORE: Halal meat is one of the fastest growing markets in the world, contributing around 16% to the total world trade, but Pakistan’s share in this is not as much as it should be, necessitating extra efforts on the part of the government to give much-needed boost to this sector.

“Pakistan can play a major role in the global halal meat industry and has the potential to become a market leader since it has all the required ingredients,” said Malaysian State Minister for Religious Affairs and Domestic Trade Haji Abdul Malik Kassim.

Kassim was speaking at the Halal Food Exporters Conference, organised by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry in connection with the Lahore Shopping Festival 2013.

Kassim pointed out that Malaysia was playing a vital role in the expansion of halal food industry and taking all possible measures for promotion of halal products.



The Punjab government has already started work on halal certification and it can go a long way in further strengthening the exporters of halal products, he said, adding “promotion of halal products is in our national agenda.”

He expressed the optimism that Pakistan could triple halal food exports by formulating and implementing policies in association with the private sector.

Punjab Livestock Secretary Sajid Yousafani was of the view that Pakistan had the ability and potential to capture a sizeable share in the $2 trillion world halal food industry, but existing exports were no match to the country’s annual output of halal meat.

LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar said demand for halal products had increased manifold because of growing Muslim population around the world and the government should encourage exports of such products.



LCCI was doing the needful to promote halal products, but the government would have to come up with an incentive package to encourage export of good quality halal food, he said.

Iftikhar asked exporters to continue to explore the world market and focus on research – a must while doing business in the global marketplace.

Saying that recommendations of the conference would be presented to the government, he stressed that state support could help take export of halal products to $5 to $6 billion.

According to conference speakers, no Muslim country features among top 10 halal meat exporters, although Pakistan, Sudan and other Muslim nations have the potential to export meat on a big scale.

Pakistan has a 100% halal production base and has direct access to 470 million consumers in Central Asia, Middle East and Europe. Pakistan has a great opportunity to gain a big share in the global halal market by enhancing production and improving quality, they suggested.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th,  2013.

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