Press Release
PR-172-2016

Philippine and Saudi Arabia Officials Began Talks to Develop the
Philippine Halal Industry

Figure 1: SASO and Philippine Officials: (left - right) DTI Commercial Counselor Eric Elnar, SASO Governor Dr. Al Kasabi, Philippine Embassy Charge’ d’ affaires, Iric C. Arribas and DTI Export Marketing Bureau Assistant Director Agnes Legaspi

(Riyadh, 23 November 2016) – Officials of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Department of Trade and Industry met with the officials of the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) led by Governor Dr. Saad Othman Al Kasabi and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) led by its CEO, Hisham bin Saad Al-Jadhey to introduce the growing interest in the Philippines to develop and promote the halal industry in the Philippines and to seek the assistance of the Saudi authorities on its development.

Formerly known as the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization, SASO was set up in 1972 and has responsibility for determining and enforcing approved standards of services, facilities, utilities and products within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. SFDA, on the other hand, ensures safety of food and drug for human and animal consumption within Saudi Arabia.

During the meeting, Philippine Embassy Riyadh Charge d’ Affaires, a.i. Iric C. Arribas said:

“The development of the Philippine halal industry is important for several reasons. It will facilitate the entry of more Philippine food exports to Saudi Arabia and to the rest of the Middle East. Moreover, the halal food supply in the Philippines shall also rise thereby supporting the food requirements not only of the Filipino Muslims, but also of the tourists from Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries who would be encouraged to visit the Philippines because of the availability of halal food. The benefit to the Philippine domestic economy including the halal tourism will be enormous.”

Officials from both Saudi agencies expressed willingness to support the efforts of the Philippines on this undertaking.

Meanwhile, business-to -business (b2b) meetings were also held in Riyadh, Al Khobar and Jeddah from 14 to 22 November 2016. Representatives from Philippine halal food manufacturers and exporters were enthusiastically met by the various Saudi-based food importers, consolidators and distributors. The Filipino companies which participated in the outbound business mission include Bantre’ Trading, SL Agritech Corporation, QPhil Products International, Maharlika Agro-marine Ventures, Magic Melt Foods, Inc. and Pixcel Transglobal Foods, Inc.

These b2b meetings are part of the efforts of the Philippine government to assist Philippine businesses penetrate the Middle East market.

Figure 2: DTI Assistant Director Agnes Legaspi and CDA Iric Arribas presenting some Filipino products to the Acting Secretary General of Riyadh Chamber, Dr. Ahmed Al Suwailem, during the b2b meetings at the Riyadh Chamber.

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