A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Punjab government and the Malaysian Peneng State Government for cooperation in halal meat industry at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Saturday. Lahore Meat Company Chief Executive Officer Dr Hamid Jalil, on behalf of the Punjab government, and Peneng Religious Affairs Minister and Halal Industry Development Chairman Haji Abdul Maalik Qaseem, on behalf of the Malaysian government, signed the MoU. According to the agreement, the Malaysian Peneng State Government will work jointly with the Punjab Meat Company to set up a Halal Industrial Park in Punjab, introduce a training programme, help achieve international certification and export of halal products from Pakistan.
Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that Malaysia was a brotherly Islamic country and the agreement between the Malaysian Peneng State government and the Punjab government for promotion of the halal industry was a good omen. He said that there was a big scope of exporting halal meat from Punjab to international markets and the Punjab government was taking solid steps in this regard. The CM said that a state-of-the-art slaughter house was being established in Lahore with Iranian cooperation while for the first time in the history of the country, halal meat was exported to Malaysia.
Shahbaz said that the Punjab government was also working on the project of certification of halal meat so that it could be exported to the Middle East, Malaysia and other countries. He said that the Punjab government would work for the uplift of halal meat industry with cooperation of the Malaysian Peneng State Government and directed Dr Jalil to take further steps in this regard. Haji Qaseem said that there were vast opportunities of exporting halal meat from Pakistan and hoped that Pakistan should play its due role to export halal meat to international markets. He expressed pleasure on the export of first consignment of halal meat from Punjab to Malaysia.
Qaseem said that Pakistan enjoyed the status of a superpower for exporting halal products to international markets and the Peneng State government would work jointly with the Punjab government to uplift and promote the halal industry. He also invited Shahbaz to visit Peneng.
