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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

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