How Korea could corner the halal market

25-Jul-2016 - Last updated on 25-Jul-2016 at 06:20 GMT

A collaboration between Korea and Malaysia could see Korea leap to the forefront of halal beauty innovation and manufacture, an industry expert has suggested.

Speaking at the recent in-cosmetics Korea trade event, James Jangsuh Noh of the Korea Institute of Halal Industry outlined a proposal from Selangor State, Malaysia for a ‘Global Halal Hub’ to be set up in the country, in partnership with Korean beauty developers.

The idea, dubbed the Korean Halal CBC Park Project, would see the partnership develop specially designed facilities in a large manufacturing facility, intended to offer “value adding, packaging and rebranding facilities that will ensure a 24/7 halal assurance service and certification compliance”, according to the proposers of the project.

Noh suggests the Korea-Malaysia collaboration model could see Korea step forward on the global halal beauty stage, coming at a time when the trend is tipped to be a major driver of future beauty growth.

Halal beauty

Malaysia, a muslim majority country, is already a dominant player when it comes to halal beauty in Asia: indeed, several of the key brands in the region are from the country, including Ivy and Simplysiti.

The relationship between Malaysia and Korea is already strong; of all the muslim majority countries to which Korea exports beauty, Malaysia is number one, taking 44% of Korean exports to Islamic countries. In general, Korean exports to Islamic countries have been on the rise, up 18% year on year in 2014, and 15% in 2015.

Speaking recently to Cosmetics Design, market analyst Kunal Mahajan from Kline explained the ongoing rise of halal beauty.

“As the economies of countries in Asia, which have sizeable Muslim populations, have grown, consumers, especially those who are Muslim, have started demanding higher quality products,” he said.

Synergistic parcipation

The officials in Selangor State have said that their proposed collaboration will encourage a closer and mutually beneficial relationship between Malaysia and Korea.

They note that it will offer “synergistic participation with various stakeholders within the HIS Trade Procurement Nexus, Information Repositories E-market Nexus and the Halal Technical Competent Person Platform Projects.”