Trade Minister Enggartiasto “Enggar” Lukita says Indonesia and Malaysia are going to review their halal certifications that are currently different from each other and lead to inefficient export and import processes.
“Every time traders want to sell to each other between the two countries, they need to undertake certification processes two times because we have different standards,” he said after meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
“The Prime Minister touched on the halal certification issue. We need to have the same halal certification to ease exports and imports,” he went on saying.
In August, the prime minister committed to boosting trade between the two neighbouring countries to US$30 billion (S$41.8 billion) in the near future from $16 billion last year.
Total trade between the countries has seen a declining trend from US$23.9 billion in 2012 to $16 billion last year amid the global economic crisis, Trade Ministry data shows.
Both Enggar and Najib hope to see more trade of diversified products. Today, Indonesia exports mainly palm oil, palm based products and chemicals while Malaysia’s main exports are petroleum products, machinery, appliances and parts.
Exports and imports between the countries are also only limited to a narrow range of products: petroleum products, machinery and appliances.
