HDC expects more than 1,000 Japanese food stores to be Halal certified by end 2020

Malaysia’s Halal Development Corp Bhd (HDC) projects another 1,000 food premises in Japan to be certified Halal by the end of this year.
Currently, 500 stores in the country have been certified as Muslim-friendly. HDC Chairman Datuk Mahmud Abbas said this will indirectly create demand for Malaysian exports and local talent to play a part in the growth of the segment.
The Muslim-friendly standards will be highly prioritised at popular tourist destinations in Japan and areas with a significant number of travellers such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Sapporo. Mahmud said, “This is due to the increasing number of Muslim tourists, leading to a growth in demand for Muslim-friendly food. This ecosystem serves as an enabler to HDC’s proprietary solutions for the Halal industry, which consist of talent development, consulting and advisory services, investments in Malaysia’ halal parks and a new halal integrated platform.”
HDC earlier planned to launch the new Halal integrated platform in April, however this might be postponed to September due to COVID-19 outbreak. The platform will allow businesses such as Muslim-friendly enterprises in Japan, talent and suppliers to come together in a consolidated environment, highly focused on trade and e-commerce. The platform is also meant to solve commercial issues, especially those of Halal raw ingredients and semi-processed food. Eventually, this platform will also integrate all-in-one solution that includes talent scouting, logistics and financing.