FARAH ADILLA
TOKYO: Halal Development Corp Bhd (HDC) expects an additional 1,000 premises to be Muslim-friendly certified in Japan by the end of 2020 from the current 500.
HDC chairman Datuk Mahmud Abbas said this would create demand for Malaysian businesses to export, and local talent to play a part in the growth of the segment.
He said HDC’s facilitation towards these Muslim-friendly standards would be highly prioritised on popular tourist destinations in Japan, and those with a significant number of travellers like Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Sapporo.
“This is due to the increasing of Muslim tourists to the areas, corresponding to a growth in demand for Muslim-friendly food.
“This ecosystem serves as an enabler to HDC’s proprietary solutions for the halal industry, which consist of talent development, consulting and advisory services, investments towards Malaysia’s Halal Parks, and the newly-built Halal Integrated Platform,” he told reporters in an interview here last Saturday.
Besides that, Mahmud said talent development in Japan was focused on Malaysians who wish to build their careers in the country.
“Their fluency of the language and understanding of the Japanese culture, coupled with their Malaysian background gives them an edge to chart their careers within the halal industry as an auditor, and to ultimately move up the ranks to what is known as a chief halal officer in the future.
“HDC’s role will be to incubate, train, and onboard these talent onto the ecosystem, spearheading efforts to establish a professional career path within the industry,” he added.
Mahmud said this dovetails smoothly into the delivery of HDC’s consulting and advisory services which facilitates processes, key operations, and business development through its expertise and deep industry knowledge.
“HDC’s recommendations include auditing of processes, optimisation of suppliers and value chain, as well as the development of diverse revenue channels through HDC’s powerful affiliate network.
“For international companies looking to expand manufacturing operations in Malaysia, HDC’s investment team serves as an enabler to attract businesses towards Malaysia’s Halal Parks,” he said.
He said synergies between consulting and advisory services can be generated through the investment vertical of HDC’s services, where HDC offers its end-to-end facilitation of foreign direct investment, particularly in the halal manufacturing segment.
As a result of these efforts, Mahmud said HDC was launching its proprietary Halal Integrated Platform in April at the World Halal Conference 2020.
The platfrom will allow businesses, such as Muslim-friendly enterprises in Japan, talent and suppliers to come together in a consolidated environment, highly focused on trade and e-commerce.
“As such an environment does not yet exist in the world, HDC’s value proposition to the industry is tremendous,” he said.
Mahmud said the platform was meant to solve commercial issues especially in the segment of halal raw ingredients and semi-processed food, which is highly in global demand, yet challenging to find.
“The platform extends even further where talent scouting and deployment, and eventually logistics and financing, can be done through one unified solution.
“As the custodian of Malaysia’s Halal Economy, HDC’s mandate is to onboard businesses onto the global halal ecosystem, and serves to create opportunities for Malaysian businesses through its activities,” he said.
Mahmud said through strategic collaborations with Japan, this sets the foundation for the establishment of a halal superpower on a global scale.