Duterte to meet with Saudi traders on PH halal industry

Halal food served at the Marriott Hotel in Manila (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

RIYADH – President Rodrigo Duterte will meet officials and members of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) later Wednesday to discuss possible investments that could revive the Philippines’ halal industry.

Earlier, Imelda Panolong, the Charge d’Affaires of the Philippine Embassy here, said the halal industry in the Philippines has not really taken off.

The sad thing is that the Philippines has not fully taken advantage of the industry, which is touted to be worth $1.37 trillion, according to Panolong.

“It’s really a huge and emerging and developing industry,” she said, adding that it has gone beyond food and has expanded to cosmetics and garments.

“Now if we can tap into this, Saudi government can help us develop our halal industry…Saudi can also help in the capacity building when it comes to halal certification bodies. That’s some of the things we need to put in place,” Panolong said.

She said a credible halal certifying body would greatly help the Philippines in penetrating global halal markets  “because the countries that will be importing or getting halal products from us will look at the halal certification.”  SFM