Perak To Set Up One-stop Centre For Halal Industry

IPOH, April 15 (Bernama) -- Perbadanan Halal Perak Sdn Bhd, a Perak government company, will set up the Halal Industry Common Facility Centre to serve as a one-stop reference centre for the halal industry.Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said the centre would begin operation in January next year, in collaboration with the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia.It was among the government's commitments to expand the halal industry in Perak, he told reporters after visiting the site where the RM3 million centre would be built in Meru here Thursday.He said the centre would also be involved in human capital development by offering incubator development and entrepreneurship programmes, among others, besides providing halal certification and standards services.Zambry also said that through a collaboration with Perak Meat Industries Sdn Bhd, the slaughter centre in Lekir, Sitiawan, which had to close because of the economic downturn in 1997, had been reactivated.The centre could accomodate up to 350 head of cattle a week and presently exported over 400 head of cattle a month, he said.The menteri besar also announced the appointment of Sufian Jusoh, who is now a research fellow with the National Centre of Competence in Research, Switzerland, as a consultant to develop the bio-technology industry in Perak.On halal certification, he said the Perak Islamic Religious Department had informed him that last year, 337 companies obtained halal certification while the figure for the first three months of 2010 was 65.Meanwhile, Perbadanan Halal Perak Chairman Datuk Mohd Najmuddin Elias said the company had roped in Sidratul Corporation Sdn Bhd to develop a halal management system and halal manufacturing practice to make the halal logo standardisation process easier.-- BERNAMA