KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has recorded an increase of RM200 million or 1.25 per cent in domestic direct investment (DDI) into Malaysian halal parks in 2020, said Halal Development Corporation Bhd (HDC).

It said Malaysian halal parks had to-date attracted cumulative total investments of RM16.1 billion since 2011, signalling that the local halal industry is still growing despite the many ongoing challenges.

"Out of this, RM9.5 billion or 59 per cent is foreign direct investment (FDI) while RM6.6 billion, or 41 per cent, is made up of DDI.

"A total of 295 companies are currently in operation throughout the 21 halal parks across Malaysia, wherein 42 companies or 14.3 per cent are multinational corporations, while 253 companies or 85.7 per cent are locally-owned corporations," it said in a statement today.

HDC said Malaysia emerged highest in the annual Global Islamic Economy Indicator (GIEI) for 2020/21 for the eighth year in a row, when it came out tops in four out of six categories, including for halal food, Islamic finance, Muslim-friendly travel, and pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors.

"Malaysia was also ranked second and fourth in the media and recreation and modest fashion sectors respectively, in the annual State of the Global Islamic Economy (SGIE) Report published by international strategy research and advisory firm, DinarStandard," it added.

According to HDC, Singapore was Malaysia's biggest importer of halal products in 2020 with a total export value of RM4.10 billion.

"The city-state relegated China's RM3.44 billion to second spot, while the United States came in third with RM1.74 billion, while Thailand (RM1.48 billion) and Indonesia (RM1.34 billion) took fourth and fifth spot respectively.

"This was able to somewhat cushion the full economic impact from the border closures, which saw Malaysian halal exports contracting approximately RM10 billion in total, down from RM40.2 billion in 2019 to just RM30.5 billion for the whole of 2020.

"The drop in halal exports value also corresponded to the 19 per cent reduction in the number of Malaysian halal exporters, from 1,876 in 2019 to 1,507 in 2020," said HDC.

In terms of sectoral contribution, halal food and beverages continued to be the main contributor to the halal economy at RM17.40 billion in total value, followed by halal ingredients (RM8.83 billion), cosmetics and personal care (RM2.67 billion), palm oil derivatives (RM0.89 billion), industrial chemicals (RM0.47 billion) and halal pharmaceuticals (RM0.30 billion).

Meanwhile, HDC chief executive officer Hairol Ariffein Sahari said Malaysia's annual halal exports were originally forecast at an estimated RM42 billion by 2020.

"However, last year was an exceptionally challenging year, with the volatility in global oil prices and the ongoing war on COVID-19 taking precedence.

"Despite these uncertainties, the local halal industry continued to show unbridled resilience, thanks largely to its strong fundamentals."

Hairol Ariffein said HDC would strive to fulfil its main mission to facilitate the onboarding of industry players into the halal economy, as well as to increase Malaysia's total halal exports and total direct investments into Malaysian halal parks.



-- BERNAMA