MANILA: The Philippines launched its Halal Industry Development Strategic Plan on Tuesday, aiming to double the booming industry’s output in the next 4 years.
The predominantly Catholic country is working on expanding the market presence of its halal-certified products, part of a larger strategy aimed at tapping into the international halal market, which is estimated to be worth over 7 trillion dollars.
Through a strategic plan launched on Tuesday, Philippines is seeking to create 120,000 new jobs in the halal industry and to attract 4 billion dollars in investments by 2028.
Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry Alfredo Pascual said during a launching event in Manila that they were aiming to enrich supermarket shelves in foreign nations with Philippine halal products. The execution of Halal Strategic Plan will see a doubling of the current three-thousand halal-certified products and services to six thousand catering to both the burgeoning domestic demand and the international halal market.
He said that Halal is a sunrise industry, it is the future, and we want to be part of that future.
Philippines home to about 12 million Muslims
The Philippines is home to nearly twelve million Muslims, according to data from the National Commission for Muslim Filipinos, making it the 3rd largest Muslim population in Southeast Asia after Indonesia and Malaysia.
Its halal strategic plan seeks not only to increase industry production but to also promote the country as the fastest-growing and most halal-friendly hub in the region.
Pascual said that the strategic plan is to transform the country into a premier halal hub in the Asia-Pacific over the coming 4 years. We are paving the way for tourists and our Filipino Muslim brothers and sisters, to find halal food and products throughout the country easily.
