Malaysian halal players missing the boat in global market?

Recently, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said Malaysia has lost its first mover advantage in the halal industry as others have beaten it to the international market.

Husni's observation could not have been more accurate but he could have ventured further and ask what happened between the time Malaysia first came up with a blueprint to enter the global halal market in a big way and now.

The answer is obviously not much, save perhaps from the numerous conferences we have organised concerning halal products.

But the 'pudding' in the halal market cake does not lie in the number of conferences organised or the governing authorities established. It lies in putting products that can actually generate revenue into the market.

The global halal market is estimated to be worth some RM10.9 trillion a year and is growing fast with almost two billion Muslims around the globe.

But about 70 per cent of the global halal market is dominated by non-Islamic nations such as Australia, Brazil and Thailand.

None of the three named have sizeable Muslim population. Out of the 170 million or so people in Brazil, for example, only one million are Muslims.

But being named as one of the dominant players in the international halal market could only mean one thing - that nations such as Brazil were much quicker in noticing the real opportunities available.

Thailand is even farther ahead. Like Malaysia, it also aspires to be a global halal hub and by the strength of its processed halal food and the comprehensive supply-chain it has built, Thailand stands a better chance.

It seems Malaysia's weakness lies in its supply-chain and Halal Industry Development Corp (HDC) chief executive officer Datuk Seri Jamil Bidin had said that Malaysia needed to make sure the local players grow bigger and are in a position to supply more products to the global market.

But then, given Malaysia was the first to explore the international halal market in a big way, something must have gone wrong along the way. Surely there are shortcomings or the local players would have been as big as Jamil wanted them to be by now.

Malaysia must overcome these shortcomings now or risk missing the boat to what may well be a very lucrative market.