THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) plans to draft a Halal Industry Development Roadmap as early as this year, a legislator said.
At the House plenary debates on the 2024 budget, Representative Christopher V.P. de Venecia said the process of preparing an industry plan can cost between P1 million and P5 million.
“We have a commitment from DTI to prioritize the development of the sector now that there is an inter-agency task force in which all different government players will have a whole of government approach to developing our halal industry,” Mr. De Venecia, the deputy majority leader, said.
“Since the inter-agency task force has been organized, the DTI commits to start the roadmap,” he added.
Since 2020, the DTI has allocated P10 million each year to halal industry development, taken from the marketing budget of the Export Marketing Bureau. For 2024, the DTI requested a budget of P147 million to develop the industry.
“The DTI was proposing P147 million to shore up the budget for this particular opportunity in the sector; however, it was not granted. Hopefully that can be part of our augmentation to DTI’s budget,” Mr. De Venecia said.
Asked what will happen to the development of the sector with no funding, he said: “According to the DTI, it will be looking into public-private partnerships for the sector.”
He added that the DTI also plans to collaborate with the Departments of Science and Technology and of Tourism to develop the halal market.
“Everything from halal financing, which is provided by financial institutions… certainly, that can be achieved even with limited resources… but ideally there (will be) augmentation,” he said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
