Vietnamese Firms Urged To Enter the Halal Industry

With roughly two billion Muslims worldwide and a growing market for halal goods, Vietnamese businesses might possibly tap into a sizable market, according to experts.

In order to increase exports to one of the markets with the highest rate of growth in the world, Nguyen Tuan, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC), said at a conference on November 1 that Vietnamese companies should be aware of halal criteria.

According to him, demand for Halal goods is rising among both Muslim and non-Muslim consumers, particularly for consumer goods.

The UAE, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Pakistan, and other large Muslim countries are only a few examples.

As more and more overseas Muslims visit Vietnam to travel, work, and study, the demand for halal goods is also growing in the home market.

Any action or behavior that is halal is considered to be acceptable in Islam and includes things like slaughtering animals for meat in accordance with rigorous Shariah guidelines.

Although there are no technical or tariff hurdles like in the US or EU, Vietnam’s participation in the global halal market is still small.

Halal Certification

According to Ramlan Osman, head of the Halal Centre of Vietnam, food products cannot be contaminated by alcohol or pork or harm the environment in order to receive a halal certification.

He emphasized the need for total segregation between the lines of producing halal food and non-halal food.

The halal market also includes other items and services like money, medicine, clothing, travel, and cosmetics.

However, the regulations and specifications for non-food items are less tight or do not provide for complete segregation from non-Halal goods.

According to experts, there are close to two billion Muslims in the world, and the demand for Halal goods is worth about 2.3 trillion USD a year.

They predicted that the market would grow as disposable incomes rose in important Islamic countries including the UAE, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.

Since Vietnam has a small Muslim population, local businesses are still unfamiliar with the halal requirements, which vary by nation.