Taiwan eyes halal food industry via pact with M’sia.

Monday, 23 April 2012   Taiwan wants to venture into the halal food industry and hopes to ink an Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA) with Malaysia in the near future to export halal foods to all Islamic countries, according to its spokesperson.  "We are hoping that the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Malaysia (MITI) will help us to ink the ECA agreement with Malaysia soon so we can kick-start efforts to export halal foods to members of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC)," said deputy representative for Taipei's economic and cultural office in Malaysia, Lin Min Li at the Taiwan Food Seminar 2012 in Kuala Lumpur.  "The agreement will allow both nations to enjoy reduced customs duties for exports and imports besides other investment advantages," he said.  Lin added that Malaysia was a significant choice "because its halal certification was recognised in OIC countries and that the country was located at the heart of Asia."  The global value for trade of halal foods and non-food products is estimated at US$2.1 trillion (RM6.44 trillion) annually, and the sector has been recognised as the fastest growing global business across the world, according to a government business investment portal.  In addition to halal foods, Taiwan has identified other key areas for future trade collaborations with Malaysia, among others including technology sharing, food packaging, health-related products, international trade promotional programmes and the pharmaceutical sector, according to Lin.  Moving forward, Lin announced that he is "expecting that the bilateral trade between Malaysia and Taiwan will increase to US$16 billion in 2012, a 2.56% increase from US$15.6 billion in 2011".