Event of the year: Agriculture Department Acting Director Hjh Normah Suria Hayati PJDSM DSU (Dr) Hj Mohd Jamil Al-Sufri (L) exchanges signed documents with Sunlit Advertising Sdn Bhd Chairman Pg Salleh Ab Rahman Pg Hj Damit (R), witnessed by Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Religious Affairs Hj Md Mahdi POKDSD DLU Hj Abdul Rahman (2nd L), Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Hamid Hj Mohd Jaafar (C) and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health Dato Paduka Hj Abd Salam Abd Momin (2nd R). Picture: BT/Ubaidillah Masli
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Friday, April 17, 2009
A "SURPRISE" is in store for the country's halal industry and will only be revealed during this year's International Halal Products Expo (IHPE), the Agriculture Department Acting Director said yesterday. This year's expo, which will be held at the International Convention Centre in Berakas from July 30 to August 2, will focus on promoting Brunei's halal brand in the drive to develop its halal products industry.
Hjh Normah Suria Hayati Pehin Jawatan Dalam Seri Maharaja Dato Seri Utama (Dr) Hj Mohd Jamil Al-Sufri related that the announcement would highlight the introduction of a mechanism for the implementation of the halal brand. However, she could not delve into further detail so a s not to "spoil the surprise", she disclosed in a brief interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.
With regard to the increasing competition in the halal products sector from neighbouring countries, the acting director noted that the global halal market is large and there is "more than enough room for everybody" to compete. She said that the idea was to take a different approach compared to other countries. Therefore, through the development of Brunei's halal brand, the country will have its own label and its own standards for halal products, she said.
Hjh Normah went on to say that to attract the interests of companies to take up the brand, the halal certification would have to be credible. In ensuring the credibility of the certification, she said that audits would have to be conducted and documents would have to be checked. The monitoring of this certification, protection of rights a s well a s the training of auditors would also fall into play. This would be further facilitated with the establishment of Brunei's Halal Science Centre, which aims to become a pivotal global ground for halal-related activities.
Meanwhile, Sunlit Advertising Sdn Bhd has been appointed event manager for the IHPE for 2009 and 2010. The agreement was signed by Hjh Normah and Sunlit's chairman, Pg Salleh Ab Rahman Pg Hj Damit at the Agriculture Department headquarters yesterday. The expo serves as a platform to raise public awareness on the Halal Certificate and Label Order 2005, which came into force on August 1, 2008, coinciding with the launching of the Brunei Halal Brand. (ODM1)
The Brunei Times
Some move faster than others: A booth minder briefs a visitor at a halal product expo at the ICC in Berakas. Southeast Asia has maintained the halal industry lead for years but food giants in the Middle East and the West are catching up. Picture: BT file
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
BRUNEI is among Southeast Asian countries that have been eyeing a big slice of the global halal market. But while the region has been noted to have held the leadership position in the halal industry for years now, food giants in the Middle East and the West have taken notice of how halal production can broaden their market reach and there are signs they can be a force to reckon with if the region takes its sweet time in walking the talk.
We sit down with Abdalhamid David Evans, a senior analyst at Imarat Consultants, for a lowdown on the goings-on in the halal industry. Abdalhamid works on a consultancy basis with the Ministry of Primary and Industry Resources on Brunei's halal initiative, a s well a s organiser of this year's International Halal Products Expo. Below are excerpts of our conversation.
BT: What is going on with the halal industry at the moment?
Abdalhamid: The real thing that one saw this year was that the whole industry is really about to enter another phase. There's been a lot of talking and planning over the last few years, and now we're starting to s e e several things: the leadership position which was taken by Southeast Asia and from these countries (Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand), they were involved with really driving the halal initiative at government level, and are looking at halal a s the engine of growth for their domestic economies.
So a lot of initiatives, talks and plans were done over the last few years, but with a very Southeast Asian focus. So the rest of the world has been listening, and also paying attention to the things that have happened in Southeast Asia. So we're now seeing developments happening in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, and also from the Western world in Europe and the US.
I think part of what we're seeing is that a lot of the initiatives which have been talked about and followed on Southeast Asia, other parts of the world are now taking halal seriously. We're now seeing input, ideas and projects coming out of the Middle East, and also out of Europe and America. I think in a way these things are going to challenge Southeast Asia a s the prime movers in the halal industry.
So you're saying that previously Southeast Asia has been taking the leadership position. Not the Middle East. No. They import most of their food. I'd say there is a fairly superficial check about whether the food was halal. So once it was in the country they just think everything's halal, no need to worry about it. They didn't have that much of their own domestic industry. And in terms of their own domestic market, they didn't bother having halal certification. It was just you know, "Saudi food is Saudi food".
And now?
Now that they're going into the global market, they're looking at developing their own and following the lead in Southeast Asia. The GCC and the Arabian countries are now focusing much more on halal and are realising that they need to get engaged in halal certification in order to put their products on the export market.
How are the Western countries opening up to halal?
In terms of leading the world, it has been Southeast Asia in the driving seat for the past five years, but we now feel that this is changing. We've been involved in the Middle East, we have an office in the US and Canada, and we're working very closely with the initiatives that are being developed there and there's hot stuff coming out from that part of the world.
For example, Crescent Foods in Chicago recently started selling their products to Walmart. Walmart is the world's largest retailer. In order to sell to Walmart, all your production processes, your computer systems etc, all these things have to be at the same level of sophistication a s Walmart's. Otherwise, they're not going to take your products. So, these kinds of smaller businesses in the US are gearing up to sell to the mainstream, and this has forced them to raise their production standards and getting compliance with the highest levels of health and safety.
This means that we know that businesses are now operating at a level of efficiency within the halal industry, coming out of North America and Canada. This is kind of a new development.
One of the other developments that we've seen, particularly with the recession and the downturn of the economy, is that some mainstream food producers are looking at halal a s a way of accessing new markets, and as a way of easing the recession. Some of them are even looking at it a s a way of avoiding bankruptcy. For some of the big corporations that are in trouble, their food producers are looking at halal as an avenue for rescuing their companies because what people have realised is that if you produce halal, you can sell it to everybody.
The message that's going out, is that halal is not just for the Muslims... You may package the same product in different ways ... but the bottom line the corporate management thinking is that "we go halal, we can sell it to everybody".
What's interesting is that now you s e e large American corporations kind of digesting that message and gearing their own production to make their products available to everybody.
Could you elaborate more on the rise of halal initiatives, ideas and projects coming out from the West, and how this will challenge Southeast Asia's leadership position?
The standards of production, product choice, marketing skills and market research if you look at it globally, Southeast Asia is somewhat behind in that respect. It's harder for a Southeast Asian company to go global than for a global western corporation to go halal. The challenge for Southeast Asia is, really, to be able to walk the talk. They really need to be able to cash in and implement the implications of the ideas they have been talking about because otherwise they are in danger of being squeezed out of their own market by some of the big corporate players.
It's very much to do with market research, product development, production efficiency and packaging. These are the core areas that producers in the region have to look at. And not to forget in Southeast Asia there are a lot of SMEs and micro-enterprises. They're not just small but they're very small, kind of cottage industries. So there is a big challenge for the governments to find ways to nurture and in that sense, this is very much a challenge in Brunei how to nurture the private sector and SMEs in order to be able to take advantage of the opportunities in the market.
The Brunei Times
Debbie Too
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
BRUNEI'S 4th International Halal Market Conference organising committee is holding a workshop to help small business in the Sultanate expedite their entry into export markets for halal products.
The strategy for this year's conference slated for August will be to hold a workshop before the conference to discuss issues and gather feedback from potential and existing halal exporters, said Effandi Hj Salleh, head of the entrepreneurial development centre of the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources and a member of the organising committee of the upcoming international halal conference. The workshop should help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) familiarise themselves with what needs to be done to finally start exporting.
The Brunei Times could not independently verify whether there has been a significant number of Bruneian SMEs that have succeeded in penetrating export markets for halal products as a result of the first three halal market conferences.
"I have spoken to our permanent secretary and he said that July will be fine to have the workshop with the SMEs," said Effandi. "We are narrowing the workshops down to 30-35 potential and existing exporters in the food industry."
This year's conference is themed "Halal Industry: Engine of Economic Growth and Opportunity". Effandi said that as the interest in halal products continues to grow, so does the implementation of newly developed standards, commercialisation and international joint ventures.
The conference will aim to showcase the advances and opportunities that make up Brunei's halal agenda and to share views, knowledge and expertise through discussions based on various topics relating to halal business ventures.
Conference sessions will tackle, among others, Brunei's role in the global halal market, developing infrastructure for the halal industry and halal guidelines for the pharmaceutical sector.
The Brunei Times
Market positioning: (Top) fairs like the International Halal Expo at the International Convention Centre in Berakas helps entrepreneurs to market their products;(Above) Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently approved the construction of a Halal Distribution Hub in Labuan, just across the waters from Brunei. Pictures: Agencies
Debbie Too
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Friday, March 13, 2009
RECENT moves to diversify Brunei Darussalam's economy have taken a giant leap, from the Sungai Liang Industrial Park to the development of Pulau Muara Besar.
Another great idea has to do with encouraging the Brunei food industry with the introduction of the Brunei Halal Brand, a project to secure a slice of the lucrative global Halal market.
In 2007, Brunei made known its intentions by establishing a Halal standard in 2007, hence taking the first step in reaching out to a $996 million market, as calculated by the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. However there are many gaps that still need to be filled with a lot more questions raised about the next step. Firstly, what is the next step?
Neighbouring countries are taking aggressive steps in the race to secure a spot. For example, Malaysia has already started to position itself to become an international Halal hub with the support of its government, which has supported the objectives and taken a number of measures including the establishment of the Halal Development Corporation.
In Singapore, the food industry there has also taken a number of steps toward becoming a Halal hub, including carrying out an advertising campaign in the Middle East, while Thailand is out to secure a niche as a centre of excellence in science and testing in the Halal market.
One of the most obvious recommendations was made by Dr Paul Temporal, Temporal Brand Consulting's managing director and founder, last year who said that Brunei first needs an identity to secure themselves in the global marketplace.
"Brunei has to think about how it's going to position itself not only in Southeast Asia and Asia but in the global marketplace as a whole. So I think that although Brunei has got some awareness and people have heard of it, people don't really know much about it and what it stands for, so we have to look at how we can position Brunei in a special way so that people are aware of the fact that it is different and it is better in certain areas and what it stands for and so on," he said in an interview last year.
He added that the Brunei Halal Brand falls into Brunei's nation branding with recommendations that the Halal Brand could be of the sub-brands that can help outsiders relay what Brunei's overall identity is. But can a small country with less than half a million people enter the trillion dollar global halal industry?
Haji Abdulhamid Evans, managing director of Imarat Consultant, a consulting firm specialising in the halal market said that the market in Brunei is too small for the world to conform to Brunei's halal standards.
"Even in Malaysia, they've conformed to Malaysia to get their business but it's still not that big a market. If you're talking about the Gulf Cooperation Council, they have a huge buying power and the standard that they roll out is going to have a different kind of impact in the market, because food exporting markets which want to reach that market will learn to be compliant with the Middle Eastern standards," he said.
He added that this shouldn't deter Brunei's plan to have a slice of the cake. He said that the global halal market is not solely based on imports and exports of goods but that Brunei could position itself to be in the niche market of the Halal food market.
"I discussed with Nestle last year, and I remember asking them what the biggest challenges are for expanding their Halal production, and they said that the big challenges was going to find small ingredients like emulsifiers, colourings and all those little additives and getting Halal sources for those are quite challenging," he said.
"The industry in general is looking for meat substitutes for example, people are arguing about gelatine and how to source Halal gelatine, but gelatine can be made from vegetable sources as well, so if you go there, then the question of whether it's Halal or not doesn't really arise and those kind of opportunities present themselves to Brunei. Good joint ventures could come out of that," he added.
But is Brunei behind in the Halal food race? Evans said, "On one hand you can say that Brunei is a bit slow, but on the other hand, it's not, and because I've worked with other countries on this, and they're just as slow. To be honest, when I've looked at the progress being made in other countries, Brunei isn't any slower actually."
The Brunei Times
Promoting halal products: One of the local Small and Medium Entreprises participated in the International Halal Product Expo last year. Picture: BT file
Syed Rory Malai Hassan
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
THE opportunity to further enhance trade cooperation between Brunei and Australia particularly in promoting Brunei Halal Brand, seem to be wide open with a business delegation from Australia expected to be in the Sultanate later this year.
Speaking to The Brunei Times, the National President of Australia-Brunei Darussalam Business Council (Australia) and Councillor, Adelaide City Council Francis Wong, spoke of his commitment and support for the Brunei Halal Brand initiative.
Originally from Brunei, the councillor said he was going to work closely with the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR), to help raise the profile and awareness of the Brunei Halal Brand in Australia.
Wong was in Brunei for a short trip recently when he met Permanent Secretary of MIPR, Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Hamid Hj Jaafar and Director of Agriculture, Hjh Normah Suria Hayati PJDSMDSU (Dr) Hj Mohd Jamil Al-Sufri.
He said that he was greatly impressed by the collateral aid put together by the ministry and would be back in Brunei in the middle of the year with business representatives from probably 10 to 15 companies.
Brunei Halal Brand was given a significant boost when His Majesty visited the "land down under" in 2005 and 2007 respectively.
"The image of the Brunei Halal Brand is one that is clean, and pure," said Wong, who also stressed that further business cooperation between the two nations could be made such as in agriculture and fisheries sectors.
Wong feels that it is a great time to invest in Brunei and that with the right support and backing, the brand can be developed itself further.
Meanwhile the MIPR is planning to organise roadshows in Australia next month, with possible presentations to Australia's State Governments.
Brunei Darussalam's International Halal Expo will be held in August this year, with Australia among the participating countries.
The Brunei Times
