KUALA LUMPUR: All relevant departments and agencies will be coordinated under a single Cabinet Committee with the aim of empowering Malaysia’s halal certification and bringing the country’s halal industry to a more competitive level, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Tuesday (Sept 12).

He said this Cabinet Committee will be led by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and will be responsible for coordinating the synergy among all parties involved to fully leverage the country's halal ecosystem, thereby creating greater opportunities in the global halal market.

"We do get high scores for halal certification, but I want it to be further elevated, not only as an exemplary model for other countries but also in terms of efficiency, quality research and ability to give prompt approvals.

"Several world leaders that I met, such as from China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia, have also discussed the halal industry, with them focusing on Malaysia...so it’ll be a great loss if we don't give it special attention,” he said when opening the Global Halal Summit (GHaS) 2023 here.

Also present were Ahmad Zahid, Religious Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar, and Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

Given the expected global halal industry market to reach US$2.4 trillion by 2024, Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said he had asked Ahmad Zahid and the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) to focus on strengthening certification and trade promotion aspects to enable Malaysia to lead the highly competitive global halal market. - Bernama