The global market for halal products is worth about USD 3 trillion but Bangladesh’s exports account less than US$1 billion. Speakers at a discussion at Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) believe the country is failing utilize the huge potentials of the sector.
Absence of an effective halal ecosystem and lack of an independent authority to issue accredited certificates for halal products in the country are mainly responsible for this,
The discussion titled “Development of the Halal Industry Sector in Bangladesh; Problems and Prospects” was held at the auditorium of the DCCI on Sunday.
Its Senior Vice President Rajib H Chowdhury said on this occasion that the global market for the fast-growing and promising halal food sector is about US$ 3 trillion and is likely to increase to US$ 9.45 trillion by 2034.
But Bangladesh exports only US$ 850 million worth of halal products, mostly agricultural products. He said the development of this sector is not taking place at the desired level due to multiple structural and institutional challenges facing Bangladesh.
He said lack of logistics infrastructure, complexity of customs duties and certification, inadequacy of modern laboratories, lack of skilled and experienced manpower, and the overall lack of a halal ecosystem are among obstacles to achieve the desired goal.
Rajib Chowdhury emphasized on forming an independent board to enable the country’s halal food industry to achieve the international standard. .
Dr. Mominul Islam, Assistant Professor, Marketing Department of International University of Business Agriculture and Technology (IUBAT) in his key note said Bangladesh, Islamic Foundation and BSTI are the two institutions that issue halal product certificates are in fact creating complications in many areas.
He said lagging behind in the use of modern equipment, branding image of the country, absence of SMEs in this sector, lack of positive image of the country’s halal products at international level, absence of integrated policies, shortage of skilled manpower and lack of structured supply chain are some of the major obstacles in this case.
Aminul Islam, Director General of Bangladesh Accreditation Board, Ariful Haque, Director General (Joint Secretary) of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), Baby Rani Karmakar, Director General of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), SM Abu Said, Deputy Director (Halal Certification) of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) were present.
Dr. Abu Saleh Patwary, Deputy Director of Islamic Foundation, Sayedul Haque Bhuiyan, Head of Supply Chain and AGM of Bengal Meat, Sadiq M Alam, Managing Director of Metamorphosis, Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Assistant Manager (Export) of Paragon Group, Director Enamul Haque Patwary, former Senior Vice President Alhaj Abdus Salam, Vice President M Abu Horaira and Salim Solaiman were also present.
Abul Kalam Azad emphasized on providing digital certificates of halal products based on information technology and ensuring quality through production compliance audits. Sayedul Haque Bhuiyan said that adding the value to halal products and storing animal life history information through the use of blockchain technology.
Dr. Abu Saleh Patwary no single government institution has the capacity to issue halal certificates in Bangladesh, so such certificate is being issued through coordination of several related institutions. He expressed the opinion that it is important to increase surveillance of government institutions in controlling the quality of halal products.
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