In the morning of September 24, 2024, in Hanoi, the Vietnam Halal Certification Authority (HALCERT) had a working session with ambassadors to Vietnam of 15 countries in the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation).

The meeting was organized and chaired by HALCERT with the aim of sharing the operational orientation of the Vietnam Halal Certification Authority (HALCERT) as well as exchanging and seeking cooperation with OIC countries in the Halal field.

At the meeting, Mr. Tran Quoc Dzung, Director of the Vietnam Certification Center (QUACERT) shared about the mission and vision of HALCERT, introducing Vietnam Halal standards system. Mr. Dzung affirmed that Vietnam is determined and serious in developing Vietnam’s Halal industry, ensuring compliance with international practices. He also shared his wish to receive sharing about the experience of developing the Halal industry as well as cooperation opportunities for Vietnam in this field.

Mr. Saadi Salama, Ambassador of Palestine to Vietnam and the Dean of the diplomatic corps, congratulated and appreciated Vietnam’s efforts in developing the Halal industry through the establishment of the Vietnam Halal Certification Center. He also emphasized that this is only the first step, Vietnam also needs to have further strategies to develop the Halal industry. According to him, the most important thing that Vietnam needs to do first is to develop a handbook in Vietnamese so that everyone can understand exactly what Halal is. Besides, Vietnam should create favorable conditions to increase the involvements of the local Muslim community in the development of the Halal industry, because they will help Vietnam overcome certain difficulties to develop Vietnam’s tourism industry.

Mr. Korhan Kemik, Ambassador of Türkiye to Vietnam, shared that Halal certified products are clean and safe products, so they are increasingly becoming the priority choice not only for Muslims but also for non-Muslims. The Halal market is growing every day, so he is very glad that Vietnam has decided to develop the Halal sector. According to Mr. Kemik, an important factor is to develop a unified Halal certification system at the global level.

Mr. Ramlan Bin Osman, Director of HALCERT Centre, affirmed that HALCERT has been building a strategy to develop its activities, and orienting the development of certification activities according to many different standards, especially widely accepted standards such as OIC/SMIIC standards and GSO standards. He also emphasised on the help and the assistant required from the OIC members at this infancy and ground zero development.

Thu Ha