Malaysia to expand its halal products, expertise into India

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Sunday 01 Nov 2015 - 13:36 Makkah mean time-19-1-1437 Dongguan (IINA) – The Malay Businessmen and Industrialists Association of Malaysia is expanding the country's halal expertise into India's market, particularly to cater the needs of its large Muslim population, its Vice-President Naim Mohamad said. He said the Association would join on Sunday the World Halal Day 2015 in Pondicherry, a union territory in India's south, which is the continuing series of the event which was last held in Singapore. "We will take this opportunity to penetrate the Indian market by promoting not only our halal products, but also our expertise in the halal industry, including the halal certification," he told BERNAMA on the sidelines of the three-day Guangdong 21st Century Maritime Silk Road International Expo, which kicked off  in China on Thursday. Naim said the Association would be working closely with other Malaysian agencies, namely the SME Corporation Malaysia and the Halal Industry Development Corporation in the establishment of a distribution center and market access in India. "We are already in China but we cannot leave India alone. We need to establish our linkages, create our network and take our small and medium enterprises there," he said. Naim said although the purchasing power of consumers in India is generally lower than that of China, there are more Muslims in India than China. "We are already in China, the world's largest country with 1.36 billion people and we now need to have access to the second largest country, India which has 1.25 billion people. Naim said ultimately, Malaysia aspired to expand its footprint in ASEAN market, home to 620 million people. "The Muslim market will be our main target, but if it is good for them then it will also be good for the whole world," he said, adding: "Halal doesn't mean merely free from pork, but the food preparations have to be hygienic to ensure consumer safety." AB/IINA