Aleem Siddiqui M. Guipal, the Head of the Philippine Halal Industry Development Office within the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), has propelled the concept of ‘Halal Friendly Philippines’ onto the global stage at Gulfood 2024 in the Middle East. Serving as a panelist in the discussion titled “Power of Digitalization, Collaboration, and Imagination: A Change Driver – Tapping into the Emerging Trends Shaping the Food Industry,” Guipal showcased the Philippines as an emerging player in the halal market.
Moderated by Bill McDowell, Editor-in-Chief and Vice President of Content Strategy at the Institute of Food Technologists, USA, the panel included esteemed industry leaders such as Abdulla Al Hashmi, Chief Operating Officer of Parks and Zones at DP World GCC; Raymond Tham, Founder and Managing Director of Mycrocell Pte Ltd, Singapore; Suresh Vaidhyanathan, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Food Hub – CEO – Special Projects at Ghassan Aboud Group, UAE; Abdelghany Eladib, President & General Manager of SIG, IMEA; along with Aleem Siddiqui M. Guipal, Head of Philippine Halal Industry Development, Department of Trade and Industry, Philippines.
During the panel discussion, they explored how technology, new business models, and collaboration can drive competitiveness in the food industry. Key topics discussed included accessing new global consumers, fostering public-private partnerships, and facilitating product development.
Speaking with The Filipino Times, Guipal emphasized the Philippines’ commitment to capitalizing on this opportunity. He highlighted the vision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual to pursue a progressive developmental approach. Guipal outlined four pillars of their strategy, including strengthening halal standards, supporting SMEs in industry development, promoting investment, and empowering Filipino workers, particularly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), to become entrepreneurs and contribute to the halal sector’s growth.
“The Philippines has immense potential in becoming a hub for halal products and services. We really would like to capitalize on that. It’s a vision of the president himself, Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr, and also our Secretary Pascual to really push for a progressive developmental approach. And how do we do that? We are doing work by addressing four pillars. One is to strengthen our standards through Halal integrity. Two is to the industry development by supporting our SME. Three is to strengthen also our presence here for investment promotion. And like what I mentioned in the plenary earlier, this is an opportunity to also promote our workers, our OFWs, they’re known worldwide right, as world-class workers. So we want them also to be part of this growth, that they go back to the country they become entrepreneurs and SMEs to support the halal sector in the Philippines,” said Guipal.
The introduction of the Philippines as a halal-friendly country at Gulfood 2024 marks a significant step towards expanding the country’s presence in the global halal market and fostering economic growth through industry development and international collaboration.
