By Sumayya
JAKARTA: Malaysia and Indonesia remain proposing the setup of a halal body for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, their authorities have expressed, as they seek to unite actions to reinforce halal commerce in the zone.
The adjacent nations, along with Brunei, constitute ASEAN partners and Muslim-majority states, accounting for close to 45 percent of the alliance’s population of deeper than 680 million.
They have been actively chasing actions to seize the global halal market, which has been rapidly expanding in worth. The Islamic commerce touched $2.6 trillion in 2024 and is projected to expand to $3.56 trillion by 2029, according to the State of the Global Islamic Economy report published in June by DinarStandard, a US agency specializing in Muslim buyer markets.
“I proposed that we shift toward the formal setup of the ASEAN Halal Council, with a target launch in Malaysia in September 2027,” Malaysia’s Deputy Prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi expressed in a report on Friday, after attending the Halal 20 Summit in the outskirts of Jakarta.
As an initial step, Malaysia and Indonesia will first forge a two-sided halal body later in December.
“The background and outcomes of this teamwork can serve as a bedrock for the setup of the ASEAN Halal Council in the tomorrow,” Hamidi expressed.
He expressed this stood an avenue for the 11-member alliance to “bind the muscles of each nation” through more organized teamwork, mutual acknowledgement, alignment of bodies and broader market entrance.
“For me, the muscle of the ASEAN halal sector must not function in isolation or clash against each other,” Hamidi expressed.
“If we can blend the muscles of Malaysia, Indonesia and the entire ASEAN, this zone has tremendous capability to rise as one of the planet’s leading halal economies.”
Hamidi held separate dialogues about the layout with Indonesian authorities as segment of his trip to Jakarta this week, encompassing during his session with Vice President Gibran Rakabuming.
“The vice president is very backing and called for the layout to setup the ASEAN Halal Council to shift faster,” expressed Ahmad Haikal, head of Indonesia’s halal body BPJPH, who took part in the session.
Hamidi first projected the concept to setup the ASEAN Halal Council last year during sessions with Indonesian authorities, and later settled to join actions for its setup, according to a report by Malaysian state news bureau Bernama.
The halal body proposal arrives just as the Philippines, which this year manages the rotating ASEAN chairship, is likewise pressing for common halal validation criteria in the zone.
While the Philippines remains predominantly Catholic, it possesses a sizable Muslim minority, which makes up close to 10 percent of the nation’s nearly 120 million population.
Last month, its Department of Trade and Industry informed reporters that dialogues were ongoing to harmonize halal rules among ASEAN partner states “to advance greater consistency and ease commerce across the zone.”
