Italy wants to play in the Global Halal Market
March 25, 2014
BARI – “Italy has the credentials to become a leading country in exports to the Islamic world, and we want to offer to institutions and businesses all the support to make this happen.” Says Sharif Lorenzini, president of the Italian section of the International Halal Authority (HIA), the only recognized body for the certification of Halal products.
A few days before the World Halal Food Council meeting, which will convene for the first time in Italy, all the representatives of the Halal world and representatives of 57 Islamic states of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in Rome from March 27 to 29 of next year. Lorenzini supports the Italian food economy in Islamic markets. “We’re talking about a three trillion euro a year industry, an increase of about 15% each year due to the two billion Muslims in the world.”
To open the doors to this potential, Italian companies of all kinds, from food to cosmetics and clothing, must produce according to standards laid down by Shariah, i.e. Islamic law that determines what is ‘Halal,’ then the product is admitted for Muslim consumption. “In fact” says Lorenzini “it is a return to simplicity in production, and usually at no additional cost to the company. And Italian companies are subsidized in this process since the quality standards, especially in food and cosmetics, are already very high.” The 220 Italian companies that have become certified in three years know the profit margins very well, seeing their revenues climb.
“Of these companies – said Lorenzini – 150 have begun to get certified because they had an order from the Islamic world. Several of these businesses were about to close, but now they cannot cope with all the requests for their products. According to the estimates of Lorenzini, Italian exports in Islamic markets, mainly Malaysia, Indonesia and South -East Asia, but also America and Europe where there are many Muslims, amounted to 15-16 billion euro.” But it is especially important for companies because of “the great increase of Muslims in Italy.”
