KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Halal industry plays a key role in the National Recovery Plan (NRP), as the industry's recovery is paramount to the resilience of the overall Muslim-majority national economy, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He emphasised that the NRP -- which comprises four progressive phases -- is a dynamic plan that will be updated and improved upon as needed based on the latest data and scientific evidence of successful strategies and approaches, with the aim of achieving full resumption of economic activities by year-end.

He said this in a keynote address read by the International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali during the virtually-held World Halal Business Conference 2021 (WHBC 2021) today.

The prime minister noted that since last year, the nation has been grappling to achieve a balance between the people's safety and ensuring that the economy remains resilient.

"The lockdowns by nations have severely hampered the operations of many businesses, disrupting supply chains and threatening the survival of businesses, particularly the small and medium enterprises, and resulted in a significant number of job losses," said Ismail Sabri.

However, he noted that the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) has transformed the business landscape.

"Machine learning, cloud computing and the Internet of Things, including blockchain and fintech, have greatly changed the way we conduct our business activities.

"It presents Halal industry stakeholders with countless possibilities in raising industrial capacity, driving increased productivity and enhancing efficiency," he said.

In his speech, the prime minister also called upon the global Halal industry stakeholders to work together and collectively resolve to enhance international trade and investment ties through global platforms such as the World Halal Business Conference.

"Halal industry players are also encouraged to enhance trade ties among Muslim trading nations through multilateral and bilateral meetings, trade missions and Free Trade Agreements to meet the demand of global Muslim and non-Muslim consumers.

"I wish to emphasise that the adoption of Halal Standards should be viewed as a value proposition instead of barriers to trade when exploring and venturing into new sources of economic growth in the Halal industry as it serves as catalyst for recovery in the post-pandemic global economy," he added.

Meanwhile, on the WHBC 2021, Ismail Sabri said the conference demonstrates the firm commitment and belief of all stakeholders that the Halal economy must remain resilient and that it will become a strong contributor to the global economic recovery.

He noted that this year's theme, "Halal - The Catalyst for Universal Economic Recovery", was apt, given that the Halal industry can play an important role and also act as a catalyst through its various value propositions in the global economic recovery.

-- BERNAMA