Taiwan to Set Its Sights on the Halal Market

Taipei: Attracted by the Halal market opportunities in the Middle East and Central Asia, Taiwan is setting out to help enterprises obtain Halal certification while taking measures to promote the expansion of exports to Turkey.

At a Sunday forum held by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and the semi-official Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) in Istanbul, Turkey, a brainstorming session was held to work on strategies to boost Taiwan's exports to Turkey. Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng led MOEA and TAITRA staff stationed in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Director-General of Foreign Trade Yang Jen-ni, TAITRA Chairman Francis and TAITRA President and CEO Peter Huang also took part in the discussion, which focused on how to address Taiwan's weak exports.

Based on the meeting, the MOEA concluded that multiple strategies are needed to help Taiwanese enterprises obtain information on the Middle East market and promote market sales.

First, the authorities should help enterprises obtain Halal food certification so that they can gain a foothold in the promising Halal market, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Machinery products are Taiwan's second-largest export to Turkey. TAITRA has set up a buyers' club in Istanbul focused on Taiwanese machine manufacturing, and the scale of factories in second-tier cities will be expanded to boost foreign trade exports.

The agency said it will invest more resources and greater effort to promote Taiwan's machinery exports to Turkey.

According to MOEA statistics, in 2014 Taiwan's total trade with Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries reached US$48.4 billion, accounting for only 8.24% of its global trade volume.

In November, after Taiwan's export volume fell by 10.3% before December 2015, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics lowered its forecast, adjusting the 2015 regional GDP growth to 1.06%, below the earlier estimate of 1.56%.