With the advantage of suitable agricultural products, Ninh Thuan and Ben Tre are localities that are connecting and doing business effectively with Halal markets.

Potential agricultural products

Currently, Ninh Thuan has a total herd of more than 220,000 goats and sheep, with an annual meat output of about 4,000 tons. Of which, the sheep herd has more than 99,000 heads and the meat output is equivalent to more than 2,000 tons/year.

Since 2009, Ninh Thuan province has assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to research and import sheep breeds from the UAE for breeding and crossbreeding. Currently, Ninh Thuan has Phan Rang sheep breed and crossbred sheep breeds to improve physical condition and meat quality.

With this product, Nhat Thanh Food Company Limited has the capacity to supply and consume domestic output, has a factory to process lamb, goat, and beef in a centralized form with a -40 degree cold storage, which is included in the provincial planning until 2030.

In addition, Ninh Thuan also has many other agricultural products suitable for the Halal market such as aloe vera, cashew, grapes, apples, asparagus... With these agricultural products, Canh Dong Viet Food Joint Stock Company under GC FOOD Group has 11 products that have achieved Halal certification. From 2018 to present, the Company has exported more than 170 tons/year of various aloe vera products to the Middle East market.

Meanwhile, in Ben Tre, fruit products, especially coconut, have been exported to many countries around the world and are also favored by Halal consumers.

The province's coconut and coconut products alone have an average export turnover of over 400 million USD/year (accounting for about 25 - 30% of the province's total annual export turnover) with over 40 products. Products made from coconut include refined coconut oil, coconut cosmetics, coconut milk, coconut milk powder, coconut peat, coconut jelly, desiccated coconut, coconut candy, coconut fiber...

In addition, Ben Tre also has 65km of coastline and over 47,000ha of aquaculture area. With an aquaculture and seafood exploitation output of over 500,000 tons/year, Ben Tre is capable of meeting the demand for seafood processing for the domestic and export markets.

Mr. Trinh Minh Hoang, Vice Chairman of Ninh Thuan Provincial People's Committee, shared about the potential of exploiting the province's Halal market. Photo: MOFA.

Proactively connect early

After two surveys by the Chairman of AeroAsia Holdings Group from Brunei, the Ninh Thuan Provincial People's Committee assigned the Departments, branches and localities to review and arrange land for the planning of the Lamb Processing Factory project for Nhat Thanh Food Company Limited.

In the future, aiming to export Halal-standard lamb to the 20 million-population market of the Brunei - Indonesia - Malaysia - Philippines Development Quadrangle and countries with a large Muslim population.

In addition, Canh Dong Viet Food Joint Stock Company under GC Food Group promoted its Halal-certified aloe vera products at the annual International Food and Beverage Trade Fair (MIFB 2024) in Kuala Lumpur last July.

In addition, Ninh Thuan's Halal-certified aloe vera products are also on display at the Product Gallery of the Vietnamese Embassy in Doha, Qatar.

For Ben Tre, the province has continuously organized seminars related to the Halal market such as "Promoting agricultural and aquatic products of Ben Tre province to the market of Muslim countries" in 2022 in Hanoi and "Building Halal standard products from the Mekong Delta to approach Muslim countries" in 2023.

These seminars have created opportunities for businesses in the province and the region to exchange and share experiences on market information and requirements for goods exported to Muslim countries, helping businesses better understand how to build Halal standard products to enter this market.

In September 2023, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Departments of Industry and Trade of Ben Tre and Ninh Thuan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation with the Saudi Arabian Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Vietnam and Saudi Arabia Business Forum, agreeing to create conditions to introduce and promote the province's Halal products to Muslim countries.

Permanent Vice Chairman of Ben Tre Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Truc Son affirmed that the province has made efforts to connect and open up the Halal market in recent times. Photo: MOFA.

Overcoming limitations and expanding markets

In addition to some positive aspects, for the markets of Muslim countries, businesses still have difficulty accessing market information, especially consumer culture, business and regulations for Halal products.

Therefore, businesses still have some issues that are not suitable for Islamic culture, from farming to processing, preservation and product design and branding.

The business community is in need of support and introduction of a list of Halal certification organizations that meet the Halal certification requirements to facilitate Halal product trade and promote trade of Vietnam's Halal products and services with Halal markets worldwide.

On the other hand, there is currently no unified Halal standard applicable to all countries worldwide; there are many organizations that are authorized to grant Halal certification, but the certification procedures of the organizations are not unified.

In addition, investing in production lines and separate equipment in the stages of packaging, preservation, transportation, etc. according to Halal standards costs businesses a lot of money.

This is the most concerning issue, because most provincial enterprises are small and medium-sized enterprises, with limited capacity and ability. As a result, the number of Halal-certified exporting enterprises is still quite modest.

In this situation, localities expressed their desire to receive support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, relevant agencies at home and abroad in effectively accessing the global Halal market and attracting resources to serve the development of the Halal industry.

Specifically, support for connecting, displaying, and introducing products at a number of Vietnamese representative agencies in a number of Halal markets. Through the bridge of diplomatic missions abroad, we help regularly update information on the economic and trade situation, demand and conditions for importing and exporting products in the Halal market through live/online events.

In addition, it is recommended that Vietnamese State management agencies provide guidance on the process and procedures for obtaining Halal certification and support trade promotion into Halal markets as well as information on trade barriers and import standards of Muslim markets.

Strengthen bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and multilateral partners on Halal products, promote the signing of agreements on increasing production and distribution of Halal-certified food to key markets.

Source: Nong Nghiep Newspaper