Malaysia Moves Halal Expertise Closer to Its Overseas Export Network

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 26, 2026 — Malaysia is moving to put its halal certification expertise closer to the companies and markets it is trying to reach, as the country seeks to turn a system built around standards and certification into a stronger instrument of international trade.

A Letter of Intent signed between the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation, or MATRADE, and the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, known as JAKIM, will establish a Halal Development Officer Programme under the newly introduced Malaysia Halal Global Nexus (MHGN).

The initiative, announced during the Global Halal Summit 2026 in Kuala Lumpur, is designed to connect Malaysia’s halal governance and certification expertise with its overseas trade-promotion network. MATRADE officers stationed abroad will be able to provide guidance on Malaysia’s halal ecosystem, with the broader objectives of strengthening international recognition of Malaysian halal certification and promoting halal exports.

The significance of the agreement is less about creating another halal initiative than about bringing two parts of Malaysia’s economic machinery into closer alignment.

JAKIM is responsible for halal governance and standards. MATRADE is the government agency responsible for promoting Malaysian exports and helping local companies develop international markets. The Malaysia Halal Global Nexus brings those functions together under a single framework intended to expand international markets, strengthen industry networks and build confidence in the integrity of Malaysia’s halal system.

For exporters, that connection can be consequential.

A halal certificate is not simply a label on a package. For a company attempting to enter a foreign market, questions over standards, certification bodies, recognition and compliance can affect whether a product is accepted by buyers and regulators. Malaysia has sought to build international confidence in its certification system through a framework that includes recognition of foreign halal certification bodies in different regions, according to Religious Affairs Minister Senator Dr. Zulkifli Hasan.

The new officer programme is intended to take that institutional knowledge beyond Malaysia’s borders.

That places trade officials, rather than certification authorities alone, closer to the practical questions faced by companies seeking to do business internationally: how Malaysia’s halal system works, what its certification represents and how Malaysian halal products and services can connect with overseas markets.

The arrangement is part of a broader attempt by Kuala Lumpur to treat halal not merely as a domestic certification system but as part of the country’s international trade infrastructure.

The government introduced MHGN at the Global Halal Summit with the stated aim of expanding international markets, strengthening networks among industry players and increasing global confidence in Malaysia’s halal integrity. The initiative carries the tagline “Connecting the Global Halal Ecosystem.”

The timing reflects the growing economic importance Malaysia attaches to the sector.

MATRADE has set a RM5 billion sales target for MIHAS 2026, raising it from an earlier RM4.5 billion target after strong interest from international buyers. The agency said it had received more than 500 applications from international buyers and importers for this year’s Malaysia International Halal Showcase, above its original target of 300 buyers.

MIHAS, now in its 22nd edition, has increasingly been positioned as a trade platform rather than simply an exhibition. This year’s event brings together exporters and international buyers across 14 halal-related clusters, while MATRADE has expanded business-matching and digital tools intended to convert participation into commercial opportunities.

The distinction matters because Malaysia’s challenge is no longer simply to demonstrate that it has a mature halal certification system. It is to ensure that the credibility attached to that system translates into access to markets.

That is where the MATRADE-JAKIM arrangement becomes significant.

JAKIM provides the certification and governance expertise; MATRADE has the overseas trade network. The HDO programme is intended to give the latter greater access to the former, creating a channel through which Malaysia’s halal standards can be explained and promoted in international markets.

The government has also linked the halal sector to a larger export ambition. MATRADE said earlier this year that Malaysia is targeting RM80 billion in halal exports by 2030, while seeking to increase the sector’s contribution to the economy through innovation and resilience.

That target will depend on more than certification.

Malaysian companies still have to compete on price, quality, product development, supply-chain reliability and market knowledge. But certification can determine whether a product meets the entry requirements of a particular market, and international recognition of certification can reduce one of the barriers facing exporters operating across different regulatory environments.

For Malaysia, the strategic question is therefore becoming broader: whether the credibility developed through decades of halal certification can be converted into a competitive advantage for Malaysian businesses overseas.

The new programme is an attempt to make that connection more direct.

Rather than treating halal certification and export promotion as separate government functions, Malaysia is placing them within the same international framework. The success of that approach will ultimately be measured not by the signing of the Letter of Intent, but by whether it helps Malaysian companies gain wider recognition, reach new buyers and turn halal credentials into sustained export growth.

For a country that has spent years building its reputation around halal standards, the next phase is increasingly about what happens beyond the certificate — and how effectively that trust travels with Malaysian products into the global marketplace.