Promoting Halal product exports to the Turkish market

Türkiye - Potential market for Halal products

Recently, the Trade Promotion Agency ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) in collaboration with the Vietnamese Embassy in Turkey and the Turkish Foreign Economic Committee organized an online seminar "Halal cooperation between Vietnam and Turkey: Current situation and prospects".

The workshop was organized in both in-person and online formats to enhance economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and Turkey in the field of Halal products and services, thereby supporting Vietnamese enterprises to promote Vietnam's production and processing capacity of products and services that meet international Halal standards; at the same time, creating a forum for direct connection between management agencies, certification organizations, industry associations and business communities of the two countries.

Delegates attending the online workshop “Halal Cooperation between Vietnam and Türkiye: Current Status and Prospects”

Sharing at the workshop, Ms. Dang Thi Thu Ha, Vietnamese Ambassador to Turkey, said that after nearly 50 years of establishing diplomatic relations, cooperation between Vietnam and Turkey is increasingly developing positively, especially since the visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in 2023.

In particular, Halal is a relatively new field but has a lot of potential when both countries have strengths and needs to complement each other, and at the same time is a field of cooperation that receives great attention from the two governments. Therefore, the authorities and businesses of both sides need to take advantage of opportunities, exploit potentials, thereby promoting cooperation to bring benefits to businesses as well as to the two countries.

Assessing the trade relations between the two countries, Mr. Le Hoang Tai, Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Agency, said that in recent years, the economic and trade relations between Vietnam and Türkiye have made important strides. Bilateral trade turnover has maintained its growth momentum, reaching over 2 billion USD in 2024.

"Vietnam is Turkey's second largest trading partner in ASEAN, while Turkey is an important gateway for Vietnamese goods to access the Middle East, Europe and North Africa. With a large Muslim population, Turkey has a growing Halal consumption market and processing center. Meanwhile, Vietnam is gradually asserting its capacity to supply Halal products, especially in the fields of processed food, agricultural products, beverages, tourism services and logistics," Mr. Le Hoang Tai emphasized.

According to Mr. Tai, the global Halal market is currently estimated to be worth more than 2,500 billion USD and continues to expand rapidly. This is a great opportunity for Vietnam and Türkiye to jointly exploit and promote trade, investment and service cooperation.

Sharing more about the cooperation opportunity, Mr. Zafer Soylu, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Halal Certification Agency in Türkiye shared: Nowadays, the consumption of Halal certified products and services is growing strongly all over the world as it is increasingly recognized as a standard of safety, hygiene and quality assurance. He also provided specific information about the conditions and certification process for imported Halal products from Türkiye.

In addition, according to Mr. Yunus Ete, Chairman of the World Halal Summit Council, the demand for Halal food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and tourism is growing rapidly. In recent years, Vietnam and Türkiye have made significant strides in developing cooperation in the Halal field. Türkiye, with its strategic location connecting Asia and Europe, is both a strong trade partner and a gateway to large markets.

Mr. Yunus Ete also said that in order to strengthen Halal cooperation between countries, from November 26-29, 2025 in Istanbul (Türkiye), the Global Halal Summit and the World Halal Fair will take place and Vietnamese agencies and businesses will be invited to participate.

Vietnam is gradually asserting its capacity to provide Halal products.

Affirming that the opportunities for Vietnamese goods are huge, Mr. Ramlan Osman, Director of the National Halal Certification Center (HALCERT) - Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam, said that up to now, HALCERT has supported many Vietnamese enterprises to export to markets such as Japan and Malaysia. This model can be completely replicated to meet the needs of Türkiye. In addition to Halal certification activities, HALCERT also plays a role in connecting B2B trade between Vietnamese and Turkish enterprises, contributing to promoting bilateral economic cooperation.

Ready to connect and support businesses on both sides

Despite the great potential, the path to exporting Halal products to Türkiye has many challenges that Vietnamese enterprises must overcome. First of all, it is necessary to meet strict Halal standards, which require absolute rigor from raw materials, clean and humane production processes to transportation and storage. The inconsistency in the recognition of Halal certification among Muslim countries is also a major barrier.

Mr. Reha Denemec, member of the Presidium of the Turkish Foreign Economic Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Turkey - Vietnam Business Council, said that this agency gathers leading Turkish enterprises and is headquartered in 153 countries around the world. "The Turkish Foreign Economic Affairs Committee is ready to connect and support businesses of both sides in cooperation in general and in the Halal field in particular" - Mr. Reha Denemec said.

For more information, Mr. İhsan Övüt, Secretary General, Institute for Standards and Metrology of Islamic Countries shared that many countries manage Halal products with their own certification systems. Although these systems are well established, they also create certain barriers for exporting countries because there is no common Halal standard globally.

From a business perspective, referring to the difficulties and challenges when exporting to Türkiye, Mr. Tran Viet Hung, Head of Import-Export Department of Visimex Joint Stock Company, emphasized that when exporting Halal products to Turkey, Vietnamese goods must face fierce competition from major competitors that have established positions in the Halal market such as India, Brazil and the US, Malaysia and Indonesia..., along with competition from Türkiye's own domestic products. These countries have a very strong and systematic Halal product ecosystem, with prestige in the market.

" In addition, obtaining Turkish Halal certification requires strict procedures and high costs, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. Although the Turkish Halal certification organization has recognized the certifications of international Halal organizations, in reality, there are still some Turkish enterprises that require the exporting unit to have a Halal certificate issued by a Turkish certification organization," said Mr. Hung.

To successfully conquer the Halal product market in Türkiye, Ms. Ba Thi Nguyet Thu, Founder of Hanoi Green Cooperative and Halal Vietnam, believes that the key for businesses, especially cooperatives, is to focus on Halal certification, considering it a mandatory passport. To do so, it is necessary to establish a mutual recognition mechanism between the Halal certification organizations of Vietnam and Türkiye, and at the same time organize training courses and share experiences on international Halal standards for businesses and cooperatives.

Türkiye's Foreign Economic Relations Committee is ready to connect and support businesses on both sides.

To promote bilateral trade cooperation, Mr. Le Hoang Tai said that the Trade Promotion Agency - Ministry of Industry and Trade pledged to continue to closely coordinate with the Vietnamese Embassy in Türkiye, the Turkey - Vietnam Business Council and agencies, associations and business communities of the two countries to accompany in the process of promoting Halal cooperation, creating all favorable conditions for effective and sustainable connection and cooperation, contributing positively to bilateral economic and trade relations.

With the participation of the State and the efforts of the business community, Vietnam is gradually forming a complete Halal ecosystem, not only serving exports to Muslim countries but also aiming to build Vietnam into a center of Halal production, processing and services in Southeast Asia.

In the context of the increasing demand for Halal products globally, Vietnam is currently very interested in developing the Halal ecosystem, identifying the development of the Halal ecosystem as a strategic direction, both opening up new export opportunities and contributing to enhancing the country's position in the international value chain. The Vietnamese Government has been implementing many programs to support businesses in improving production capacity, quality standards and Halal certification, and actively coordinating with international organizations to facilitate the penetration of Vietnamese goods into the global Muslim market.

Author: Do Nga

Tags: trade promotion, Halal ecosystem, import and export, Ministry of Industry and Trade

Source: https://moit.gov.vn/tin-tuc/xuc-tien-thuong-mai/thuc-day-xuat-khau-san-pham-halal-sang-thi-truong-tho-nhi-ky.html