AUTONOMOUS Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) Governor Mujiv Hataman declared the Polloc Freeport and Ecozone in Parang, Maguindanao as “halal hub,” the first truly halal ecozone in the country.
“The Armm Government is continually working to open the possibilities to the halal market in the region as well as in the country that serves as a gateway to the multi-trillion dollar halal industry,” Hataman said.
Halal is an Arabic word meaning permissible based on Islamic Sharia law and the term can cover both goods, such as foods, drinks, medicines, clothing and cosmetics, and services as well as places.
The governor said the declaration of a halal economic zone will attract local and foreign investors to export and import halal products and services.
Aleem Guiapal, Armm’s Regional Economic Zone Authority (Reza) executive director, said a declared halal ecozone becomes halal-industry ready and industry investments would be fully supported.
Guiapal noted that Reza continues to forge stronger partnerships with potential investors.
“We see tremendous opportunities here in the region. So now, we want to differentiate our market on the other economic zones in the Philippines. The declaration is considered a medium to attaining the vision of a sustainable Armm economy,” Guiapal said.
“We, in Muslim Mindanao, should seize the opportunity as the halal market worldwide is continuously growing,” he said.
Ecozones are selected areas with highly developed, or which have the potential to be developed into, agri-industrial, industrial, tourist/recreational, commercial, banking, investment and financial centers.
Guiapal said that having halal ecozones in the Armm means it would open opportunities to the region as well as to the country for the growing global halal industry.
Among the potential markets for Mindanao-produced halal foods are Middle East countries, Singapore as well as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines under the East Asean Growth Area. (Bong Garcia/SunStar Philippines)