REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Japanese food-makers are vying in halal certification for their products, due to high demands as global Islamic population grows from 1.6 billion at present to more than two billion by 2030.
Halal, means permissible and in accordance with Islamic values. President Director of a seafood-processing company in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, Tsukasa Yoshimura said the halal food could be a possible way to cope shrinking domestic market. "The concept of halal is rational although it may be costly (to remain in compliance with Islamic law), but we want the certification as a new sanitary code," he said according to Japanese Time on Thursday.
Professor of Islamic Finance at Kyoto University, Shinsuke Nagaoka believes the barriers against entry to the Islamic market are low for Japanese companies. "The Islamic economy is close to the Japanese way of doing business, as it puts weight on fair transactions and production of goods and on contribution to local communities," he said.
Directorate General of Standardization and Consumer Protection at Ministry of Trade, Nus Nuzulia previously said that Halal certification could be a promotion instrument of company. "Consumers in export destination countries also have much demands to require halal mark on the product," he said.
He added, in international trade, Indonesian products marked halal further improved its competitiveness. Especially when it marketed to Muslim countries and Muslim market segment.