THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be boosting its marketing of halal exports this year, in compliance with Republic Act (RA) 10817 or the Philippine Halal Export Development and Promotion Act of 2016, signed in 2017.
Assistant Secretary for the Trade and Investment Promotions Group (TIPG) Abdulgani Macatoman on Monday said that with the increasing worldwide market for halal products, the Philippines has an opportunity to sell more.
“In the Philippines, we have an $800-million market for halal, not counting the domestic consumption of the 11% Muslim population. But because of the passage of the RA 10817, we are expecting this to increase to $1 billion for 2018,” he added.
Mr. Macatoman in a separate interview told BusinessWorld that the top halal exports are dried fruits, which are shipped to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and the Middle East.
Undersecretary for TIPG Nora K. Terrado said the department hopes to consolidate the halal industry.
“There are conversations in the community to build the ecosystem for it. There’s a lot of demand for halal food, fashion, and textiles.”
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said that the consumption of halal products is not limited to Muslims, since the industry is also now sold as a “lifestyle” product in places like Singapore.
“Because of the untapped potential for that market, we want to do it also here… for more than the 11% Muslim population because of the potential also for tourists looking for halal products in the food and non-food segments,” he added. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato
