4,692 companies certified Halal so far, only 26.4% Bumiputra-owned

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 4,692 companies and entrepreneurs have received the Halal certification as of last month.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki told the Dewan Negara today that from the total only 26.4%, that is 1,244 companies belong to Bumiputras.
"The vast difference between the numbers of Bumiputra companies and non-Bumiputra companies that received the certification is because the total number of Bumiputra companies in the manufacturing sector is low compared to non-Bumiputra companies.
"The 1,244 Bumiputra companies are all from the manufacturing sector," he said.
Asyraf said besides this, some of the Bumiputra companies have the wrong perception that Halal certificate application is expensive.
"The cost for small companies or businesses starts as low as RM100 and have to only be renewed once every two years.
"There are also some companies that fail to achieve the Good Manufacturing Practices standard that has been stipulated," he said.
Asyraf was responding to a question by Senator Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah on the government's effort in increasing the Halal certification for Bumiputra companies.
He said the efforts to increase Halal certification holders among Bumiputra companies are ongoing in both the public and private sectors.