Admittedly, Malaysia has not had many great opportunities to rise to leadership in any sort of viable or high potential industries. This is compounded by the fact that Malaysia is neither the cheapest place to run a factory, nor well-equipped and well-run enough to be host to the regional HQs of the largest companies. Simply put, Malaysia today just does not have the comparative advantages available to countries like China, India or Singapore.

As such, every high potential opportunity available to our country must be pursued ardently, including the growing halal industry recently spotlighted at the inaugural World Halal Forum held at Kuala Lumpur a few weeks back. It is said to be already a US$500 billion-a-year industry, and with the ever-increasing Muslim population, the halal industry’s growth opportunities are almost infinite.

Malaysia’s key comparative advantage is clear. Malaysia is one of the very few moderate (i.e. scientifically and economically-inclined) Islamic countries in the world with the necessary infrastructure, well-diversified labour force and related resources to provide foreign multinational companies (MNCs) a stable, and relatively low-cost Islamic hub to produce, promote, export and manage their halal products. MNCs will not have to be worried about an overly aggresive religious environment, an unstable political and socio-economic climate, or a ridiculously tight regulatory framework.

In fact, Malaysia fulfills all the necessary qualities to serve as a successful platform not only for the traditional halal food market, but also for financial services and tour packages. Malaysia already has in place multiple Islamic banks with a well-documented Islamic regulatory framework, and a labour force well-suited for the Islamic tour industry given its multi-racial nature. Perhaps its simpler to say that Malaysia is well-suited to be a forerunner in the largely untapped global halal logistics industry.

So, what steps must Malaysia take? In the short to medium run, we should be looking at accelerated efforts to not only promote the strict halal certification process touted by the Government, but also attract foreign MNCs to Malaysia by offering the “standard” tax and infrastructure incentives, not unlike the Transport Ministry’s planned trade mission to Dubai. In the long run, developing a central hub for the halal industry, where supporting industries (e.g. transport and distribution) can take root, should be a key aim.

But of course, the real question still remains. Can the Goverment effectively develop the halal industry in Malaysia without creating the same problems we have seen in prior high potential industries?