Thailand underperforming in halal export market
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Failure to build trust among muslim consumers and lack of stronger regulation the main factors
A Thai-Muslim academic has floated a great idea, which, if successfully implemented, could do a lot of good to a lot of people.
But it requires a great deal of commitment from the private and public sectors, as well as inputs and participation of Muslim communities in the southernmost provinces.
Speaking at a recent seminar in Bangkok Prof Isra Santisart, director of the Centre for Muslim World Policies, called for a concrete strategy to help push Thai halal food products to better penetrate the world market. Halal foods are prepared in line with Islamic dietary guidelines.
Isra said Thailand’s market share of halal food in the Muslim countries of the Middle East, Africa and Asia has been shrinking over the past 12 years when compared to halal food exporting countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.
This is disappointing when one considers the fact that the quality of Thai food production has been improving over the years.
One of the reasons for this has to do with trust. Most of the producers of Thai halal foods are not Muslim, the academic pointed out.
It goes without saying that in order to enhance trust and confidence among Muslim consumers worldwide, there has to be stronger regulation from the authorities as to what constitutes halal.
As of now, just about anybody can slap a Muslim logo on their restaurant and declare their outlet to be halal. But in reality, there is a serious laxity in conforming to the requirements. And if the word gets around, the trustworthiness of the country’s halal industry and brand will also take a beating.
Another option, with regard to exports, is to relocate the production base to Thailand’s southernmost provinces where a vast majority of the people are Muslims.
And instead of labelling these Thai products with “Made in Thailand”, Isra suggested that “Made in Patani” be used because the Muslim world is familiar with the Malay-speaking region.
Thailand should also consider using Indonesia and Malaysia as production bases, as this would help increase reliability.
Former senator, Prof Worawit Baru, is one public figure who has consistently called on the Thai government to come up with a comprehensive and meaningful plan for the country’s halal industry in his home region.
Worawit said with the Asean Economic Community (AEC) becoming a reality at the end of the year, previous obstacles associated with connectivity such as logistics and movement of goods and services could be lowered.
He said he was impressed with the halal industries in Australia and New Zealand, particularly the meat sector, because everything was “halal” every step of the way – from the slaughter house to the packaging and distribution.
But all that hard work was rendered useless once the products arrived at supermarkets in Thailand where butchers see no need to comply with the halal procedure, which really doesn’t cost anything.
For example, for halal you are not supposed to use the same knives or the same cutting board as ones used for non-halal meat, such as pork.
It is true that studies after studies point to the ongoing insurgency violence in the deep South as an obstacle to investments from outside. In spite of big tax breaks, Thai firms have been reluctant to take a chance with the deep South.
One way to get around this, said Prof Worawit, is to push for local participation and ownership.
Indeed, if local people have some ownership of the production, the insurgents would think twice before attacking the outlets.
Fear and concern among potential investors should not be taken lightly. But if one were to look at the activities of the insurgents over the past 11 years when the current insurgency emerged, the militants have not aimed to damage the local economy.
Yes, there has been collateral damage and some rubber and other business outlets have come under arson attacks over the past decade. But there still seems to be a perceptible level of self-restraint on the part of the insurgents. All in all, the economy and land prices in the region have continued to grow.
Successive central governments in Bangkok have been too busy demonising the insurgents to the point that it has distorted the reality on the ground.
Sadly, this is the price we pay for distorting information for political gains. An accurate picture of the region could not only help strengthen the economy of the region but also help resolve the conflict as well.
