On the morning of October 14, 2024, Acting President of the National Standards, Metrology, and Quality Authority (STAMEQ) – Dr. Ha Minh Hiep – held a meeting with representatives of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy to discuss the Halal sector. Present at the meeting, the leaders of the Certification Center (QUACERT) and the National Halal Certification Center (HALCERT) actively engaged with the UAE representatives on the potential for cooperation between the two states in developing the Halal industry.
At the meeting, Dr. Ha Minh Hiep expressed his pleasure and extended congratulations to the UAE Embassy on behalf of Mrs. Farah Al Zarooni, the UAE representative, for her successful election to ISO Council Group 3 for the 2025-2027 term at the ISO Annual Meeting held in Colombia last September.
To continue the meeting, Dr. Hiep proposed that the UAE side support the development of the Halal industry in the field of tourism and food; supporting materials and human resources for the development of Halal standards, the development of the Vietnam Halal Certification Center (HALCERT) in Vietnam;
Responding to the above proposal, Mr. Eisa Alhammadi emphasized that the UAE is very interested and ready to support the development of the Halal sector in Vietnam. Accordingly, the UAE want to learn more about Vietnam’s vision for the Halal industry, its structure and the forms of support expected from the UAE.
QUACERT’s representative – Mr. Tran Quoc Dung (Director) – and HALCERT’s representative – Mr. Ramlan Bin Osman (Head of the Center) – also expressed strong alignment with the vision of cooperation between the two countries. They conveyed high hopes for an early opportunity to formalize a partnership with the UAE on Halal matters, particularly considering that Vietnam’s Halal industry is still in its infancy and in need of substantial support from global leaders like the UAE.
Overview of the meeting
At the meeting, the representative from the Embassy said that Muslims currently account for about a quarter of the world’s population, with more than 1.9 billion people. In the meanwhile, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the South Pacific are home to the largest concentration of Muslims, with 860 million people (about 43.5%). It is also the largest consumer of Halal food in the world. In 2023, the global Halal food market will reach about 2.3 trillion USD, which is expected to reach 5.3 trillion USD by 2030.
Vietnam has many favorable conditions for the development of the Halal industry due to its favorable geographical location, strengths in the development of agriculture, food, tourism, especially participating in the signing of new-generation free trade agreements… It can be affirmed that the opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to participate in the global Halal market is huge.
Some photos during the meeting as followings:
Thanh Tùng – Int. Cooperation Dept. of STAMEQ, Hồng Quân – HALCERT
