PH Halal Program “Enough Press Releases Start Actual Production”

DAVAO CITY – The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) is pushing for the immediate start of production of Halal goods in Mindanao ending years of meetings and conferences on the program.

During the virtual 1st Halal Agri-Fishery Congress conducted by the Department of Agriculture in Region 9 (DA-9), MinDA Chairman Secretary Emmanuel Piñol bewailed the numerous and endless meetings on the Halal Program without any product introduced to the huge Halal market.

“MinDA would like to take the lead right now because we cannot simply promote halal. We have press releases, but we do not actually have the product. How can we join the huge Halal market?” he added.

He emphasized that the Halal market’s valued size is at 2.11 billion USD with a potential to grow to 3 billion USD by 2023.

Piñol also noted that various local government units (LGU) in Mindanao, with a huge Muslim population do not have initiatives in promoting halal products.

“I believe that our Halal program through the years was mainly promotions with little effort on production,” he said.

“I hope I’m not going to offend anybody, but it actually has been merely confined to meetings, conferences, policy-making, promotion. Active local government participation should be encouraged,” the MinDA chief stressed.

He also emphasized that the Halal program should also include the development mechanism, branding, sourcing of Philippine Halal products, Halal Commodity Value Chain Approach, Halal Integrity, and provide opportunity.

MinDA’s ongoing Halal flagship programs focus on Mindanao Halal Fisheries Development and Livestock Production.

The livestock component is undertaken in partnership with BARMM – Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) and the Australian Government through the BIMP-EAGA sub-regional cooperation.(MinDA Media Release)

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