Daegu City Holds First Meeting of 'Halal Food Activation Council'... Dreaming of $200 Million Export

Daegu City has formed the ‘Halal Food Activation Council’ consisting of experts from industry, academia, and research institutes related to food and halal certification, and will hold its first meeting at 2 p.m. on the 11th at the Sangyeok Office of Daegu City.

This council was established to gather insights from experts in food and halal certification to successfully implement the ‘Daegu City Halal Food Activation Plan’ announced by Daegu City last August.

Daegu City Sangyeok Government Complex

Daegu City has formed an expert group of 14 members, including representatives from the food industry, academia, halal food distribution, halal certification, and local Muslim residents, to provide practical advice for Daegu Food (D-Food) to enter the halal market. If necessary, small group meetings among experts will be held by project to resolve issues.

On September 6, Daegu City signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Food Importers Association (KOFIA), composed of companies specializing in importing and distributing Korean agricultural and food products in Asia and the Pacific region, to mutually cooperate in pioneering Southeast Asian and halal markets for Daegu food products.

At the meeting, Cho Min-haeng, Chairman of the Korea Islamic Halal Committee, said, “Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, exports of halal products from our country have continuously increased,” adding, “The halal market is a blue ocean market with great growth potential, and we will actively cooperate to ensure the successful implementation of Daegu City’s halal food activation project.”

Also, Muhammad Alam Alji, Director of Alji International Trade residing in the Daegu area, said, “I hope that Daegu City’s halal food activation project will serve as an opportunity to understand Muslims,” and added, “I will spare no advice to help Daegu food successfully enter the halal market.”

Daegu City plans to establish a new growth foundation for the local food industry through the halal food activation project from 2024 to 2028, aiming to increase Daegu’s current food export value of 71 million dollars by 181% to 200 million dollars.

Ahn Jung-gon, Director of the Economic Bureau of Daegu City, said, “The halal food market, which accounts for a significant portion of the global food market, is growing annually due to the increase in the Muslim population,” and added, “Daegu City will do its best to ensure that Daegu food successfully enters the Southeast Asian halal market through the smooth implementation of the halal food activation project.”