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The country's first appearance at the exhibition promises not only to be a glorious gastronomic treat for halal food connoisseurs, but also a prime opportunity for Filipino food exporters to boost their sales.
Christine Weaver, Exhibition Director for Halal World Expo, said the addition of Filipino food this year would contribute greatly to the rich diversity of halal products from all over the world set to be featured at the extravaganza, organised by IIR Middle East.
She said:
¡¥We are delighted to welcome the Philippines to what promises to be a hugely successful event. Filipino food may not have the reputation of other international cuisine, so this is a deserved chance for the Philippines to prove that it can tempt the taste buds of halal food consumers as much as any other country in the world.¡¨
The Philippines food showcase at the GCC's leading event dedicated to the global halal industry has been sponsored by the country's Department of Agriculture and nine of its private sector companies.
The Phillippines' Department of Agriculture secretary, Arthur C Yap, said he was delighted that his country was getting the chance to put itself on the global halal food map.
He said:
"The strategic business location of the United Arab Emirates means it is an active and challenging market as well as a re-export hub in the Middle East / African region. The Philippines can look ahead to major expansions in trade particularly in our export of food and related agricultural products. The UAE remains the top export market of the Philippines in the Middle East/African Region and it is where the country got its Halal accreditation in June 2006.¡¨
A fledgling Filipino halal food industry has begun to take off thanks to vital backing from the Philippines' president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Through the Department of Agriculture, she has agreed for the government to pump much-needed public investment in farm subsectors to create more jobs designed to cater for Filipino families' halal food requirements.
President Arroyo is actively seeking foreign investment to help further expand the Philippines' halal food industry.
Halal World Expo is much more than just an exhibition. Organisers IIR Middle East are emphasising that it is also a business platform catering to the needs of the global halal producers, traders and business leaders.
In addition, it will focus on halal lifestyle products, including Islamic fashion, cosmetics and other health care products, for which there is a growing demand in the UAE and other parts of the Middle East.
Running alongside the exhibition will be the Halal World Expo Forum which will include a session dedicated to Islamic Finance and Shari'ah compliant banking and financial products.
With its dense concentration of Muslim consumers, the Middle East is one of the premier users of quality halal products in a rapidly expanding industry which is now reaching 1.8 billion consumers worldwide and worth an estimated $2.1trillion
In the UAE, 80% of imported food is halal, which refers to meat from animals that are slaughtered in rules strictly prescribed under Islam. Imported products come from countries such as Brazil and Australia, the latter exporting 43,071 tonnes of mutton, 17,685 tonnes of lamb and 3,312 tonnes of beef to the Middle East in 2006.
Last year the Emirates accounted for 7.77% of the world's lamb and beef imports and 15.38% of all poultry imports, second only to Saudi Arabia.
Rana Mesbah
