Halal Vietnam - Bright Horizons (Part II): "Passports" that break barriers

For the Halal industry, Vietnam does not face competition and Vietnam's participation in this market is not late.

Currently, there are about 3,000 Vietnamese products that have received Malaysian Halal certification. Pictured is the Vietnam Food and Beverage Fair in Penang, Malaysia in December 2023. (Source: VNA)

The Halal market is a "gold mine", the potential of Halal is "borderless", what are Vietnam's competitive advantages in the global Halal playground? In the talk show "Vietnam's Halal Industry: Bright Horizons" ofthe World and Vietnam newspaper, former Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria, former Director of the Middle East - Africa Department Nguyen Trung Kien; Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Cong Hoang, Head of the Middle East and West Asia Research Department, Institute of South Asia, West Asia and Africa Studies and Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Dinh Ngoc Linh analyzed the advantages that Vietnam has, like "passports" to help overcome barriers to open up this potential market.

No competition, no late

Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien said that in any field, competition is both a challenge and an opportunity. However, for the Halal industry, Vietnam does not have to compete and Vietnam's participation in this market is not too late.

Talk Show "Vietnam's Halal Industry: Bright Horizons" by The World and Vietnam Newspaper. (Photo: Anh Tuan)

Therefore, to affirm a more stable position, Vietnam must rise up in this market, surpass itself, make products meet standards and dominate the market. Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien is confident that Vietnam can absolutely do it.

According to the former Director of the Middle East-Africa Department, one of the consistent views of diplomatic officials in recent years is: Diplomacy is ultimately still about serving development and the economy.

Regarding the Halal story, the diplomats also have such great determination. The diplomats are always aware that the demand for products serving the Muslim population is huge and Vietnam can completely meet it. Therefore, by all means, the diplomats promote the Halal industry, showing their determination to do diplomacy to serve development.

To further reinforce Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien's "not late, not competitive" viewpoint, from the "field", Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Dinh Ngoc Linh shared the inspiring story of the host country in forming and developing the Halal industry.

Ambassador Dinh Ngoc Linh said that unlike Vietnam, Malaysia has Islam as its state religion, which is a favorable basis for developing the Halal industry. However, Malaysia did not have a Halal industry from the early days of its founding, but it has been a relatively long process.

In 1970, Malaysia opened a restaurant that met international Halal standards, the first step for Malaysia to enter this market. After that, it gradually completed the legal framework and most recently, Malaysia launched a strategy to develop this industry until 2030.

According to Ambassador Dinh Ngoc Linh, the above reality shows that Malaysia has been ahead for quite a while, however, up to now, they are still struggling like Vietnam about Halal standards, policy and legal basis, and developing the Halal industry more deeply...

Thus, although Vietnam is taking the first steps in the Halal industry, these are very important steps and have achieved initial results. Vietnam needs to make more efforts to rise up and assert itself.

"The countries with the world's leading Halal industries are not Muslim countries, so Vietnam can be completely confident in conquering this journey," Ambassador Dinh Ngoc Linh emphasized.

Vietnam has many favorable conditions to develop the Halal industry. (Photo: NNVN)

Rare comparative advantages

Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Cong Hoang affirmed that Halal is a gold mine of the world and all countries can participate in this market. Over the years, Muslim countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and non-Muslim countries such as India, Thailand, Australia and Brazil have exploited this "gold mine" very well.

Sharing the same opinion with Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien, Mr. Dinh Cong Hoang said that Vietnam can be completely confident in dominating this market when holding comparative advantages that not every country has. Specifically:

Firstly, geographically, Vietnam is located in the center of ASEAN, very close to major Halal markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Middle East-Africa, Central Asia.

Second, Vietnam has abundant raw materials, especially agricultural and aquatic products - important ingredients in Halal products.

Third, after nearly 40 years of Renovation, in the process of international economic integration, Vietnam has built a manufacturing “brand” – ranked in the top 20 countries with the largest foreign trade in the world. Vietnam’s total import-export turnover is nearly 700 billion USD, exported to more than 100 countries in the world, exporting about 30 items with a turnover of over 1 billion USD.

Fourth, Vietnam's trade relations with other countries are very good, based on the foundation of 17 new-generation, high-quality free trade agreements, including with demanding markets such as the European Union (EU), Japan or the United States. Therefore, Vietnam has an extremely solid foundation to overcome non-tariff trade barriers of Halal.

Finally , according to Mr. Dinh Cong Hoang, the Vietnamese Government is very interested in developing the Halal industry, actively supporting businesses to open this market with two outstanding marks: the approval of the Project "Strengthening international cooperation to build and develop Vietnam's Halal industry until 2030" and the establishment of the National Halal Certification Center under the Ministry of Science and Technology. These are "passports" that help Vietnamese businesses open up the potential Halal market.

In conclusion, diplomats and Halal experts all affirm that Vietnam is not late to enter the Halal industry and there is no competition. In particular, Vietnam has many rare comparative advantages that not every country has, so it can confidently move forward and affirm its position on the global Halal map.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/halal-viet-nam-chan-troi-tuoi-sang-ky-ii-nhung-tam-ho-chieu-vuot-rao-289921.html