Northport well positioned to tap global halal market

NORTHPORT (Malaysia) Bhd, is banking on its halal tag to help exporters and shipping lines tap into the US$500 billion (RM1.6 billion) global halal industry market.

The port hopes to further strengthen its global market reach now that it has become the first Malaysian port to be awarded the halal certification by the Halal Industry Development Corp.

As a Syariah-compliant port, it expects to become a key component in the logistics and transportation chain and logistical integration.

"Northport, served by 123 shipping lines and connected to more than 300 ports worldwide, is particularly well positioned to exploit the vast potential in the expanding halal consumer product market," said Northport managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader.

He said the port has extensive dedicated facilities and services to ensure strict compliance with the Syariah requirements and standards.

The port offers designated areas for packing and unpacking of inbound and outbound products, as well as dedicated cold facilities.

Northport's halal ambitions are also supported by MISC Bhd's Halal Express Services that provides extensive link to the global halal markets including Europe and the Middle East.

MISC's Halal Express Services was launched in 2006 and following positive responses from the trade, the weekly service is now served with six 4,250 TEU (20-ft equivalent unit) container ships.

The service now calls at Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas, Northport, Karachi, Jebel Ali, Bandar Abas, Nhava Sheva, Colombo, Singapore, Shanghai, and more recently Pipava, India.

Yesterday MISC launched its second service loop named Halal Express Service 2 with direct services to the Far East.

"With more shipping lines beginning to tap into the growing specialised demand for transportation and logistics services for halal products, we view the trend positively and are committed to further providing a wider range of services to meet the specific requirements of trade," Basheer said at the launch of the MISC Halal Express Service 2 in Northport yesterday.

Northport aims to use its link with several other leading global shipping lines such as Maersk, Hapag Lloyd and Nippon Yusen Kaisha as a platform to other Muslim dominated consumer markets via key ports such as Rotterdam, Dubai and Marseille.

Source: Business Times