Perlis to emerge as M'sia's Halal hub

Perlis, strategically located beside neighbouring Thailand, which produces a lot of raw materials, gives the state an added advantage to develop its own halal hub centred at Padang Besar, a Malaysia-Thailand border town. The small town is to bring in a lot of raw materials such as maize and soya bean when the dry port and the double rail track costing more than RM1 billion investment are completed. Menteri Besar Azlan Man said the mega projects slated for completion by 2015 will not only help meet the state's requirements but also fulfil the needs of Malaysia's populace. And also Perlis is to open factories soon that produce foodstuffs for livestock. Such factories have long existed in our neighbouring country," he said, adding that several investors have shown interest to build factories that manufacture halal products. Besides bringing in raw materials from Thailand, Malaysia will provide globally-recognised halal certificates for products brought in from Thailand, he told Bernama in an exclusive interview. Azlan said this matter has been discussed and has been agreed to during a visit by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at a roundtable discussion with Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and with the captains of industries from Malaysia and Thailand. Its a win-win situation, he said. Azlan also opined that the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) initiative was still relevant. IMT-GT established in 1993 by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand is aimed at accelerating economic transformation in less developed provinces with the private sector playing a pivotal role in promoting economic collaborations among the three friendly nations. Since the inception of the IMT-GT, development in the three regions has expanded, with economic activities benefiting more than 70 million people from 14 provinces in southern Thailand, eight states in Peninsular Malaysia (including Perlis) and 10 provinces in Sumatera, Indonesia.