KUCHING: Sarawak should focus on targeted market segmentation instead of attempting to dominate the entire global halal industry, with neighbouring markets alone offering vast growth potential.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said businesses should strategically concentrate on high-demand regional markets, particularly India, China, East Asia and ASEAN, which together account for nearly half of the world’s population.
“The market is there. We don’t need to be too ambitious to capture the whole global market. What we do is look at our neighbours and work together with our neighbours.
“It is about 40 to 50 per cent of the global population. If you capture half of that, maybe the world is yours,” he said in his keynote address at the Borneo International Halal Showcase (BIHAS) 2026 here on Tuesday.
Abang Johari stressed that understanding market segmentation would enable producers to develop products that meet actual consumer demand rather than limiting themselves to a conventional perception of the halal market.
He said halal products should not be viewed as serving only Muslim consumers, but instead as products capable of addressing the needs of both Muslim and non-Muslim markets.
“When you have that market segmentation, then you know what you should do in order to meet the market demand.
“To me, the halal market is about producing something that humans need. If the process is halal, the product is halal. If the product can solve human needs, then the market penetration is not only the halal market, but also the non-halal market,” he said.
He added that Sarawak is positioning itself to support this vision by prioritising science-based research and innovation to develop new products in healthcare and food production.
According to him, the state is investing heavily in education to ensure its future workforce possesses the expertise required to drive innovation in strategic sectors.
“We are trying our best to produce new products, something new, in healthcare as well as in food production,” he said.
To achieve this, Abang Johari said Sarawak provides free tertiary education for Sarawakian students studying at state-owned universities while prioritising 64 science-based programmes.
He added that the state also gives emphasis to key disciplines within the arts and social sciences, including finance, law, banking and psychology, to produce graduates with skills aligned to future economic needs.
“This will encourage our young people to study these strategic disciplines,” he said.
Abang Johari also called for greater participation from both Muslim and non-Muslim youths in advancing halal processes, saying innovations developed through halal-certified methods could benefit humanity as a whole.
“If it is a halal process, and the users are both Muslim and non-Muslim, then there is something that has been contributed by us for humanity,” he said.
