BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Friday, June 4, 2010

SINGAPORE’S High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam said vendors from the city-state look forward to the possibility of the neighbouring countries working together in grabbing a slice of the global halal market pie.

In an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday, Joseph K H Koh said he hoped the ongoing Fifth International Halal Products Expo (IPHE) 2010 would bring together Singapore and Brunei manufacturers to establish contact and to work together in marketing products to the bigger market for halal goods.

The prime reason for Singaporean vendors to take part in the expo was to look at how products from the two countries could be marketed to foreign shores, said Koh.

“Bilateral relations is not just about exporting Singapore products to Brunei, but it should be a win-win situation, so we work with Brunei manufacturers and export (the products) to bigger markets,” he said.

The high commissioner explained that because both countries have small markets, the way to go about marketing the products was to “leverage on each other’s strengths”.

“We do not have to re-invent the wheel but (instead) leverage on each other’s strengths. We also do not have to think narrowly. Instead of thinking you export to me and I export to you, why don’t we work together and export to bigger markets?” Koh said. However, regarding the kind of products that can be explored by both countries for export, he said, it has to be driven by the private sector.

Some seven Singaporean enterprises participating in this year’s halal expo.

Koh said since Singapore also has lab tests for issuing halal certification, Brunei and Singapore could also explore the prospect of “cross-recognition” of each others products.

“There are a lot of Singapore labs doing analysis on halal testing. We test not only the food but the ingredients. So there could be cross-recognition of each other’s products, so you do not have to start all over again,” he said.

The high commissioner added, “Once you recognise each other’s certification, and likewise anything that has been certified by Brunei, we can say that Brunei is good enough for us, so these are areas where we can help each other.”

Last year, Singapore was among the 10 participating countries that took part in the IHPE 2009. The expo managed to attract nearly 40,000 visitors from both local and neighbouring countries.

The Brunei Times

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