MANILA: Philippine finance, tourism and food industry representatives are preparing for the country’s debut at the Middle East’s largest halal exhibition, which will take place in Saudi Arabia later this month.
The annual Saudi International Halal Expo will be held in Riyadh on Oct. 28-30, providing a platform to stakeholders from all over the world to see and showcase the latest innovations, research and development in the global halal market.
Led by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippine delegation and exhibitors will range from fruit, food and beverage, and supplement sectors to tourism, travel and finance. They will showcase their products and projects under “Halal-friendly Philippines” — a government umbrella brand promoting the country as a halal market hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
“This is the first time that we are participating,” Aleem Guiapal, DTI Halal Industry Development program manager, told Arab News. “It is about building relationships and to strengthen our presence in ASEAN and GCC countries.”
The predominantly Catholic Philippines — where Muslims constitute about 10 percent of the almost 120 million population — has been making efforts to tap into the global halal market, which is estimated to be worth more than $7 trillion.
By increasing its presence and doubling the number of its halal-certified products and services, the Philippine government plans to raise $4 billion in investments and generate about 120,000 jobs by 2028.
Guiapal said that the Filipino halal market’s strength is in agricultural products such as coconut oil, fruits, nutraceutical foods, baked goods, supplements and wellness items, but there will also be construction companies joining the country’s delegation at the Riyadh fair.
“Because if we want halal-friendly tourism or hotels, the contractors also ought to know how suitable their hotels would be,” he said.
Part of the Philippines’ strategy to revive its tourism sector after the COVID-19 pandemic has focused on expanding its halal tourism portfolio and developing halal-friendly properties.
The Southeast Asian country is also developing Islamic financial services and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank, will also be part of its delegation.
The aim is to pitch in “opportunities for Islamic banks to open their Islamic banking operation in the Philippines,” BSP officer Winnie Claire Jamoner-Carbonel told Arab News.
“We want them to know that a lot has happened in the Philippines in Islamic banking and we want them to know that there is a market that no one serves ... so they could take a chunk of that market.”
