PHILIPPINE producers of Halal products will join a roadshow in the various Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries between Feb. 11 and 25, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said in a statement.
The DTI organized the outbound business matching mission together with the Export Marketing Bureau and the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Dubai.
The delegation will include exporters of Halal-certified food, personal care, and cosmetic products.
“The Philippines is continuously strengthening its Halal ecosystem to be able to better serve the growing global Halal market. The mission aims to contribute to increased understanding by Philippine exporters of the Halal market in the GCC, especially for the 15 exporters who are first-time participants to the mission,” Trade Assistant Secretary Glenn G. Peñaranda said.
According to the DTI, the GCC mission will cover Manama, Bahrain between Feb. 11 and 13; Kuwait City between Feb. 13 and 14; Doha, Qatar between Feb. 14 and 16; and the Gulfood 2023 trade show in Dubai between Feb. 16 and 25.
“The GCC market serves as an important launch pad and driver for the internationalization of Philippine micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), especially for halal exporters due to its unique market characteristics,” the DTI said.
“It hosts roughly half of the total number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) which serves as an anchor market for Philippine products abroad, especially for food and personal care products,” it added.
The delegation members are Cattleya & Rose Gourmet Foods Trading, Eng Seng Food Products, Francoeur Merchandising, Franklin Baker Company of the Philippines, Fruits of Life, Inc, G5 International Corp., Good Sense Food and Juices Corp., Innovative Packaging Industry Corp., Jamla Corp., La Carlota Food Enterprise, Liwayway Marketing Corp;
Lorenzana Food Corp., Mega Global Corp., Mica By The Sea Co., Miguelitos International Corp., Pasciolco Agri Ventures, Pearl Foods International, Inc., Pixcel Transglobal Foods, Inc, Sagrex Foods, Inc., Sandbox Middle East, See’s International Food Mfg. Corp., Turn Fruit Trading DMCC, and Villa Socorro Farm.
The cosmetics and personal care members of the delegation are C and H Cosmetics Industry, Greenstone Pharmaceutical, Inc., and Jegen SWE Enterprises, as well as service and business provider LBC Solutions Middle East.
In 2021, the United Arab Emirates accounted for 61.48% of Philippine exports to the GCC region, followed by Saudi Arabia at 18.38%, and Qatar at 10.69%. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave