(Chinhphu.vn) – Halal products include almost all essential products of life such as food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles, handicrafts to the service sector…
A large amount of Vietnamese agricultural products meet food safety and hygiene standards in accordance with Halal certification
Nearly 1,000 enterprises are Halal certified
The Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) recognizes that Vietnam has the capacity to export and brand food and agricultural products in the top 20 in the world (according to the Institute for Strategy and Policy Research of Agriculture and Rural Development), with many typical export items in the top of the world such as rice, tea, cashew, coffee, pepper, shrimp, fish… which are also products suitable for the needs of Muslims; and many of them have been trusted by the Muslim community such as coffee, tea, beans, food, etc.
A large amount of Vietnamese agricultural products meet food safety and hygiene standards in accordance with Halal certification (VietGAP certification, GlobalGAP, organic certification, HACCP, ISO…) and are favored by Muslims;
Vietnam currently has about 1,000 Halal-certified enterprises with leading enterprises such as TH True Milk, Trung Nguyen coffee… as a premise to lead and increase the number of Vietnamese enterprises participating in the Halal agricultural food supply chain in the coming time.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recognizes that one of the advantages when Vietnam participates in the Halal market is that Vietnam has deeply integrated into the international economy with other countries, new-generation Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), high quality with demanding markets (EU, US, Japan…). In particular, with large Muslim regions such as Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a member of the ASEAN community; Middle East region… is the foundation for Vietnam to approach and strengthen cooperation with the Halal market;
Vietnam is negotiating to soon sign the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the UAE in 2024 and studying the possibility of negotiating FTAs with some Muslim countries/large Muslim populations such as Türkiye, India…
In particular, Vietnam has issued the Project “Strengthening international cooperation to build and develop Vietnam’s Halal industry by 2030” No. 10/QD-TTg dated February 14, 2023; The National Halal Certification Center was established (April 2024) contributing to the unification of state management of Halal certification, creating favorable conditions and helping Vietnamese enterprises save costs to effectively penetrate the global Halal market.
Vietnam is currently completing and developing a Decree on the management of Halal products and services. The completed legal corridor ensures the management and promotion of activities related to the development of the Halal economic sector in the coming time. Vietnam has initially built a national standard system (TCVN) on Halal with 5 standards, specifically: TCVN 12944:2020 Halal food – general requirements; TCVN 13708:2023 Good agricultural practices for Halal production facilities; TCVN 13709:2023 Halal animal feed; TCVN 13710:2023 Halal food – Requirements for animal slaughter; TCVN 13888:2023 Conformity assessment – Requirements for organizations certifying Halal products, processes and services. This is an initial tool to help Vietnamese enterprises understand and apply correctly to their production and business to achieve Halal product certification smoothly.
Need to have a strategy to develop a Halal Ecosystem applying high technology
Solving challenges, seizing opportunities
Although Vietnam is perfecting and building a legal foundation and a management system for Halal products and services, in reality, there is no unified set of Halal standards in the world applicable to all countries.
Along with that, there are many agencies and organizations certifying Halal, the certification procedures of organizations and countries are not unified. Halal certification can be considered a technical barrier that increases product costs and reduces the competitiveness of products exported to this market.
Not only that, the costs related to conformity assessment are too high and are not controlled in relation to Halal certification (including investment costs for conversion in production, qualified raw materials, quality control experts, conformity assessment…);
In fact, Vietnam has not yet formed a Halal Ecosystem, including: Production, services, infrastructure, Halal human resources (people with deep understanding of Halal)… Meanwhile, in the market, there are countries participating as large suppliers, with experience and occupying a large market share such as: Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil…
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to overcome these difficulties, it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation, support development in training, production, development of Halal certification…, promote cooperation to reach agreements on developing the Halal market; Promote cooperation in the direction of linkage such as Manufacturer – Distributor to receive and create momentum for mutual development.
Complete the legal corridor from the Decree level and documents under the Decree to manage and promote activities related to Halal economic development.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also believes that it is necessary to have a strategy to develop a Halal Ecosystem applying high technology (including: artificial intelligence AI, digital technology, green economy…) to ensure the participation of ministries, localities as well as economic sectors, mobilize resources from the whole society as well as external resources to raise awareness and capacity; create and develop Halal people; support businesses to promote the formation of Vietnam’s Halal Ecosystem compatible with different requirements of the Halal market; identify advantages in products, markets… to have investment, prioritize development resources.
Currently, Vietnam has prospects from both internal and external resources to develop Halal agricultural and food exports.
Internal resources are the participation of the entire political system along with the great potential of Vietnamese agriculture and food. In the near future, it is possible to create a complete Halal Ecosystem, including: Halal people (Managers, businesses, manufacturers with in-depth knowledge, assessment experts… on Halal); production (raw materials, technical technology, experts…); legal basis, infrastructure (legal corridor for managing products and services, and policies to encourage the development of halal products and services; organizations certifying/supporting certification/halal quality management applying high technology…); increase the number of businesses and Halal product manufacturers participating in the global supply chain.
The main external prospect is the huge market demand for Halal agricultural products along with bilateral and multilateral cooperation efforts to ensure the penetration, development and opening of the Halal market for Vietnamese agricultural products through: Commitments, agreements, protocols achieved… on opening the market for Halal products, especially with key markets such as UAE (gateway to the Middle East market), Malaysia, Indonesia…
Taking advantage of the trend of cooperation between manufacturers and distributors with leading important partners of the Halal market helps the Halal industry create momentum to perfect Vietnam’s Halal agricultural food supply chain.
Vietnam International Sourcing Expo 2025 – A Bridge for the Development of the Halal Industry in Vietnam
Vietnam International Sourcing Expo is an event organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, opening up export opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to participate in the global Halal supply chain. In addition, the exhibition also creates opportunities for enterprises to meet and exchange with leading partners and importers in the field of manufacturing, processing and distributing Halal products.
Vietnam International Sourcing Expo 2025 – International Exhibition Connecting Global Supply Chains
Benefits of participating in the exhibition:
- Connect with thousands of international buyers: Leading retail groups, importers in the supply chain.
- Display products & services: Reach more than 10,000 potential customers from 60+ countries.
- In-depth seminar: Update global supply chain standards & SCM technology
📅 Time: 04 – 06/09/2025
📍 Location: SECC, Ho Chi Minh City
👉 Join now to seize the opportunity to connect to the global supply chain: [Registration link]
