GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Mindanao-based halal industry advocates are intensifying their campaign to improve the country's chances to penetrate the multi-billion dollar global halal market.

Before the end of the month, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Central Mindanao is bringing to Manila a forum geared towards charting the roadmap of the still undeveloped halal industry of the Philippines.

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This is the second year in a row that the regional DOST office is holding a national forum in the bid to advance the country’s basically untapped halal industry.

Zenaida P. HR Laidan, DOST regional director, said the two-day event will gather global halal experts and local halal movers in the government, academe and the business sector.

"The affair will serve as an ideal venue in deliberating a national level platform for the future course of the Philippine halal industry," she said.

Dubbed the National Halal Forum 2009, the event is themed "Enhancing Halal Science and Technology for Economic Growth and Social Equity." It will be held in Shangri-la Hotel in Makati City on November 23 to 24.

Halal maybe food or non-food items permissible in Islam.

Laidan said there are an estimated two billion Muslim consumers abroad, but non-Muslims can also be tapped since Islam does not bar them from consuming the halal products.

She estimated the global halal market value at not less than $600 billion.

Laidan, a Moro scientist, said the forum is open to Muslims and non-Muslims who want to enrich their knowledge of halal and be a part of this international lucrative market.

Foreign and local halal certifiers have been invited to grace the event that also seeks to create market linkages, she added.

By staging the event, the regional DOST office expects to sustain the development of the country's halal industry as well as strengthen the innovations undertaken by the industry players.

Last year, the regional DOST held its first national halal summit in this city with the theme "The Halal Market -- The Best Market Place for Mindanao Economic Growth."

Haja Sittie Mariam Abdul Latif, director of halal integrity at Malaysia's Halal Industry Development Corp., said then that for the Philippines to penetrate the global halal market, local industries must have the commitment to produce quality halal products.

"This can be achieved by going into training and be accredited by a credible halal certifying body," Latif said, offering her country’s help through the conduct of seminars.

Laidan said her agency is hoping to put Central Mindanao region at the center of the country's halal map by constructing a laboratory worth at least P50 million to meet the industry's needs.