Halal Goes Global
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52<br />
Chapter 7 – ITC AND THE HALAL SECTOR<br />
ITC AND THE HALAL SECTOR<br />
The International Trade Centre’s mission of ‘trade impact for<br />
good’ has a natural resonance with the halal market. When<br />
looking at the contours of the global market, there are clear<br />
opportunities for developing economies to find a strategic<br />
role to play and, in doing so, benefit their communities and<br />
economy.<br />
The halal market, in essence, represents a new commercial<br />
paradigm that is based on a set of religious and spiritual<br />
obligations. At the same time, it has many crossover points and<br />
shared values with other recognized emerging-market trends<br />
that promote ethical and moral values in the marketplace.<br />
In addition, ITC’s focus on enabling South-South trade,<br />
integrating more women into the commercial arena and<br />
providing opportunities for a young generation to develop<br />
entrepreneurial expertise and business opportunities are<br />
all consistent with the overall growth patterns of the halal<br />
market.<br />
While a large corporation can often easily make a successful<br />
pivot into the halal market, it is more difficult for a small<br />
enterprise to get access to the knowledge, skills, funding<br />
and market access that will bring commercial success. Yet<br />
the success of these smaller enterprises can be significant<br />
in transforming society in a developing or poorer rural<br />
economy. Although the food industry is dominated by<br />
powerful multinationals, it is largely made up of small,<br />
medium-sized and even micro-business enterprises that<br />
form the warp and weft of a country’s social fabric.<br />
The main focus areas of ITC’s activity can be expanded to<br />
include some of the specific needs of the halal market, and<br />
can play a central role in providing services and support to<br />
halal sector stakeholders, particularly SMEs in developing<br />
economies.<br />
Linking SMEs to global<br />
supply chains<br />
About 80% of global trade takes place within value chains<br />
and roughly 60% involves intermediate goods. This makes<br />
integration into existing value chains a very important<br />
means of access into global trade, especially for SMEs and<br />
even micro-enterprises in rural economies. If they can have<br />
access to the gaps and opportunities in these value chains,<br />
they can look for ways to position themselves as integral<br />
components of these markets.<br />
For many SMEs, making the transition to becoming an<br />
integral part of a global value chain requires additional skills,<br />
and the ability to be agile and resourceful. ITC, by providing<br />
valuable market information and strengthening the capacity<br />
of TISIs, can play a valuable role in helping SMEs find the<br />
appropriate gaps in the halal value chains, and to position<br />
themselves accordingly.<br />
With its integrated modular approach, ITC’s SME<br />
competitiveness development programmes are readily<br />
adaptable for the halal market and can provide help in<br />
many of the areas where these enterprises need assistance.<br />
These include:<br />
• Logistics and supply chain<br />
• Export marketing<br />
• Meeting technical and quality requirements<br />
• Creating market linkage<br />
Strengthening trade<br />
and investment support<br />
institutions<br />
ITC works closely with a network of trade promotion<br />
organizations, chambers of commerce, trade associations,<br />
enterprise development agencies and others. This network<br />
is a critically important part of ITC’s work, and it has great<br />
significance for the halal sector.<br />
The more these support institutions develop understanding,<br />
skills and trade intelligence, the more they will be able to<br />
see the opportunities in the halal marketplace and help<br />
their SMEs take advantage of the opportunities that the<br />
expanding halal market has to offer.<br />
ITC is stepping up its efforts to help TISIs build the necessary<br />
expertise that is specific to the halal sectors, and to develop<br />
regional and international networks and other collaborative<br />
schemes that can make them more effective.<br />
Supporting regional<br />
economic integration<br />
Emerging markets continue to play an important role in<br />
global economic growth, and many of them – such as India,<br />
Brazil, Turkey and China – are strategically significant within<br />
the halal market for a number of cultural or commercial<br />
reasons. Despite the dominance of certain major foodexporting<br />
countries, there are significant opportunities to<br />
help producers and traders from least developed countries