马来西亚召开世界清真论坛

Malaysia plays host to Global Halal Forum

By Neil Merrett

背景知识：本次为第二届世界清真论坛。

最近几年,世界各地对清真食品的要求不断增加,清真食品的产量每年都超过1500亿美元。
根据市场上对清真食品的大量需求,在沙特阿拉伯首都利雅德成立了世界清真食品组织,以协调清真肉食企业的生产和销售。
由于清真肉食在宰杀清理方面的高卫生与高质量,不仅穆斯林对清真肉食品有需求,欧美的非穆斯林同样欢迎清真食品,
仅仅美国首都华盛顿一个城市便开设了140家清食品商店,这些商店专门出售清真肉食,尽管价格比通过流水线宰杀的普通肉价要高出许多,但顾客还是络绎不绝。
随着欧洲和美国作为少数族裔的穆斯林人口的不断增加,各国政府职能部门开始考虑向这些皈依的穆斯林供应清真食品。
“清真食品” 这一术语也随着世界对清真食品不断增加的需求,而被收录进欧洲各种不同的字典中,成为了人们日常生活中的一个惯用词。

The second ever World Halal Forum kicked off in Malaysia this week, as the country moves to become a global leader in production and distribution of the strictly defined certification.

Speaking during the event's opening yesterday, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stressed the country's desire to further develophalaltechniques not just domestically, but globally as well.

"The WHF together with its partner event the Malaysian International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) have been included in Malaysia's 15 Year Industrial Master Plan as annual events to boost the development of the halal sector,"he said as during his key note speech.

Theforumcomes as a further sign of the opportunities, particularly in the food industry, for the country's halal processors and producers.  An increasing number of companies are producing halal goods to tap into the billion dollar global demand.

Halal is an Islamic term for permissible, which in food terms constitutes an approved slaughter and preparation for products such as meat, in a similar vein to kosher products.

During the two day event, 900 representatives from over 30 countries, ranging from key industry players to raw material suppliers will meet to discuss the biggest issues facing the industry, like the implementation of international standards.

Badawi also used the forum to announce the formation of the International Halal Integrity (IHI) Alliance, a non-profit, non-government organization designed to represent views of everyone involved in the industry.

The event is also expected to set the agenda for the halal industry over the coming year with a number of memorandums of understandings to be signed to further develop production techniques and certification.

These include developing an information and communication technology with Microsoft, as well as financial services, and human resource development with Thailand'sChulalongkorn University.

With more than 1.8bn Muslims globally, the total size of global halal food and non-food (such as financial services, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics) industries is estimated at RM7.98 trillion (?1.5 trillion) with an expected growth rate of 10-20 per cent each year.


Though the global market for halal food has never been measured, industry estimates of its value range from $150bn (?110bn) to $500bn (?368bn).