The Korea International Trade Association is stepping up efforts to help Korean consumer goods companies enter halal markets.
KITA held the K-Halal Global Market Forum on the 27th at Trade Tower in Seoul's Gangnam district.
The forum was designed to deepen Korean companies' understanding of the Muslim market — about 2 billion people, or 25% of the world's population — and to explore entry strategies, as its consumer market grows more than 6% annually. About 150 participants attended, including KITA Vice Chairman Lee In-ho and Jamal Abdulla Al Suwaidi, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to South Korea.
In June, KITA opened the KITA K-Halal Bridge at its UAE and Jakarta offices to target the global halal consumer goods import market. The bridge offers corporate support services such as market research and entry consulting, along with outreach to local governments and institutions, to help exporters break into halal markets and diversify shipments of Korean consumer goods.
In opening remarks, Lee said the halal market emphasizes health and ethical consumption beyond religious standards and holds strong growth potential driven by young consumers. "We will spare no effort in supporting our consumer goods companies' entry into the halal market through the KITA K-Halal Bridge platform," the vice chairman said.
The forum covered findings from a halal consumer perception survey, global halal market trends, and market conditions and entry information by product category.
Park Jin-woo, a KITA deputy director, presented results from a consumer perception survey conducted in five major halal markets, saying 78.8% of respondents cited halal certification as essential when buying consumer goods. Perceptions of certification varied sharply by country, product and consumer profile, he added, making local research on product positioning essential alongside obtaining certification.
Delma Firdaus, a research analyst at DinarStandard, offered advice on how Korean companies should approach halal markets. "Korea has cultural affinity built on Korean content, along with competitive consumer goods," the analyst said. "In entering halal markets, companies should directly leverage their strengths in research and development, manufacturing and branding, while working with partners who understand the local market for distribution."
Joo Yuni, a director at Trade Partners, and Jung Min-jae, a director at EC21 R&C, outlined the characteristics of global halal markets. "The UAE is a re-export hub built on logistics infrastructure, Indonesia is a production base backed by a huge consumer market, and Malaysia leads in setting halal standards," Joo said, pointing to the need for country-specific entry strategies. Jung said competitiveness in premium products in the Middle East and the ability to comply with regulations such as mandatory halal certification in Southeast Asia are the key variables for market entry.
Meanwhile, the global halal consumer goods import market is worth about $400 billion (551.72 trillion won) a year, according to a KITA Institute for International Trade report on halal consumption trends and consumer perceptions.
