Halal foods are "permitted" and "legal" products under Islamic Law with extremely detailed and strict standards.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn said that this was the first time the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had cooperated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to coorganise a forum on the Halal food market. The event aims to raise awareness about the potential of this market; the importance of Halal certification and measures to help Vietnamese businesses participate effectively in the global Halal food market.

The global Halal food market has great potential and is growing at a rapid rate across every continent from Asia to the Middle East-Africa to Europe and America. The world has 1.8 billion Muslims with Halal food spending forecast at US$ 1,400 billion by 2020; this amount forecast to grow more than 10 times to US$ 15,000 billion by 2050.

"This is a great opportunity for countries like Vietnam to export more food and agricultural products", the Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasised.

However, so far, the participation of Vietnamese businesses in the Halal food market has been limited. According to the Vietnam Halal Centre, Vietnamese enterprises have initially exported some Halal products, but can only meet one third of the demand from countries in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Many businesses still face difficulties in issuing Halal certification and lack information about the market, business and consumption culture in order to fully participate in the Halal market, especially in Muslim countries.

Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn expressed his wish that the forum would discuss the real potential of the global Halal food market, not only from countries with a majority Muslim population, but also from countries with such a smaller population. Islam is widespread in Europe, America and some Asian countries. Thereby, identifying new trends and demand for Halal products is vital, not only limited to food but also in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and many other Halal services such as tourism.

He affirmed that the ministry will always stand side by side and support localities and businesses in grasping new trends, approaching markets, contributing to creating new motivation for the sustainable development of Vietnam in the new strategic phase.

At the forum, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Lê Minh Hoan said that the Vietnamese agriculture sector always accompanies Vietnamese agroforestry and fisheries enterprises. He believes that through this forum, parties will have the opportunity to learn more about the demands and conditions of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery exports to Muslim markets and look forward to developing potential market penetration strategies. Management agencies and enterprises have engaged in research in order to produce export products with their quality, specifications and design in accordance with regulations on the quality standards and consumption practices of a diverse range of countries; building product distribution networks and opening representative offices and branches in the market.

Source: en.nhandan.org.vn