[Kabar-indonesia] 22 RI Biz/Econ Reports: Rupiah to Average 9,200; Berlian; Telkom; IMF; Kiani

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

22 Reports:

- Indonesia rupiah to average 9,200/dlr 
  in 06-c.bank
- Indonesia Mulls Special Purpose Vehicle
  For Islamic Bonds
- Indonesia Berlian not to offer
  new shares in S'pore
- Indonesia's Berlian Tanker shareholders
  approve vessel sale, leaseback
- Indonesia's Telkom likely to post continuing
  rise in profits
- Indonesia sets max rupiah deposit rates 
  at 11.25 pct
- Indonesia's foreign exchange reserve may
  reach 43 bln USD
- Indonesia to save US$800 mln by early
  repayment of IMF debt
- Turnover of Indonesian financing firm shoots
  up 44pct
- Founders of Indonesia's BNP reduce
  stakes
- Indonesia's Indomobil raises stake in
  Swadharma Finance to 90.92 pct from 51
- Indonesia's Tempo Scan signs agreement 
  with GABA over 'Wyber' brand handover
- Singapore's UFS denies giving up on 
  acquiring Indonesia's Kiani
- Indonesia to tighten criteria for establishment 
  of new airline
- Indonesia seeks postponement of AAF
  liquidation
- Indonesia's sugar production expected to
  rise to 2.45 mln tons this yr
- Indonesia's Astra Agro sees 2007 capex
  flat at 600 bln rupiah
- Broker call - Indonesia Astra Agro rated 
  a 'buy', target price 10,300 rupiah-UOB
- Indonesian CPO exports reach 4.5 mln
  tons
- Indonesian palm oil prices extend losses,
  eye rupiah
- Malaysia calls for stabilisation of rubber
  price
- San Miguel set to establish feed mill in
  Manado, Indonesia
    
Indonesia rupiah to average 9,200/dlr in 06-c.bank

JAKARTA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The Indonesian rupiah is likely to average 9,200 
per dollar this year, the central bank's governor said on Monday, in remarks 
that dealers said signalled it sees the currency holding around current levels 
for the rest of the year.

Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah also said the monetary authority expected the 
Southeast Asia's biggest economy to grow by 5.3 to 6.3 percent in 2007.

The rupiah, one of Asia's best performing currencies this year, averaged 
9,183 per dollar between January to August this year, the central bank said. The 
currency 
was quoted at 9,120 per dollar at 0500 GMT on Monday.

"The rupiah stability has been due to improving macroeconomic indicators, 
attractiveness of investing in the rupiah as well as an easing in upward (U.S.) 
interest rate pressure," governor Abdullah told parliament.

"The rupiah averaged 9,183 to the American dollar in the January to August 
period and we forecast the average rate for the rupiah this year to be 9,200 per 
dollar."

The rupiah has gained about 8 percent so far this year following a surge of 
foreign fund inflows seeking high yielding assets such as government bonds and 
in anticipation of lower local interest rates in line with an expected easing 
in inflation.

The gains followed the bank's sharp interest rate hikes late last year to 
contain inflation and prop up the rupiah which fell 9 percent in a single day in 
August due to worries over ballooning budget subsidies amid a soaring global 
oil prices.

Inflation has since fallen as the impact of the sharp fuel price hike last 
October fades, allowing the central bank to cut interest rates.

Foreign exchange dealers said the remarks from the governor suggest that 
authorities see the rupiah hovering at current levels the rest of the year.

"The central bank does not want to see it moving far from that (9,200). It 
means they want the rupiah to remain stable and not to be too volatile," said 
Wiling Bolung, Jakarta-based head of trading at HSBC.

(Additional reporting by Johannes Mantiri) 

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Indonesia Mulls Special Purpose Vehicle For Islamic Bonds

JAKARTA, September 11 (Dow Jones)--Indonesia is considering
establishing a special purpose vehicle as part of its plans to issue
Islamic bonds next year, Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah
said Monday.

The special purpose vehicle would issue the sukuk on behalf of the
government, Abdullah told reporters.

Abdullah said Bank Indonesia has also suggested to the government that
the central bank could issue the Islamic bonds.

The government is amending its laws to allow sukuk issuance and aims
to issue the Islamic bonds next year.

The current law defines government debt securities as interest-bearing
notes and doesn't mention Shariah securities. Shariah, the legal code
of Islam, prohibits interest payments.

The government's sukuk would need to be asset-backed, but the law
requires state assets to be sold through an auction with the approval
of Parliament.

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Indonesia Berlian not to offer new shares in S'pore

JAKARTA, September 11 (Reuters) - Indonesian shipping company PT
Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk said on Monday it will not issue new shares
but will list its treasury stock in a planned Singapore listing to
raise $100-125 million for new ships.

Berlian had budgeted $400 million this year for its expansion plans,
which include buying seven new ships. The ships are part of plans to
acquire 15 new ships between now and 2009.

Its current fleet has 55 ships, including oil and chemical tankers as
well as gas carriers. "The company has decided not to offer new
shares. The shares that would be listed on the Singapore exchange
would come from our treasury shares," Kevin Wong, a director of the
company, said in a statement.

Deutsche Bank and UBS have been appointed to handle the listing of the
$937-million company. Berlian has also been in talks with the New York
Stock Exchange about a possible lising.

Berlian shares have nearly doubled since the start of the year,
outpacing the 24.5 percent rise in the Jakarta Composite Index
, due to optimism on its Singapore listing and the company's
expansion plans.

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Indonesia's Berlian Tanker shareholders approve vessel sale, leaseback

JAKARTA, September 11 (XFN-ASIA) - Shareholders of shipping firm PT
Berlian Laju Tankers have approved a proposal to sell one of the
firm's vessels to First Ship Lease Ltd for 45 mln usd and then to
lease it back, company director and corporate secretary Kevin Wong.

Berlian has previously sold and then leased back two other ships.

The company said earlier that the planned transaction is designed to
provide the firm with additional cash flow to be used for its regular
operations as well as for financing activities.

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Indonesia's Telkom likely to post continuing rise in profits

JAKARTA, September 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - State-owned
telecommunications company PT Telkom (JSX:TLKM) is predicted to
announce a rise in its financial performance this year, a Minister
said.

The country's largest telecommunications company posted a massive
increase of 53 per cent in net profit to Rp5.81 trillion (US$637
million) in the first half of this year with capitalization of US$17
billion, State Minister For State Enterprises Sugiharto cited.

The company' operating income grew 24 per cent to Rp23.99 trillion
with operating profit of Rp10.81 trillion.

Its income from mobile phone units, which are the largest contributors
to total income, surged 48 per cent to US$9.44 trillion.

Telkom owns 65 per cent of the country's largest mobile phone operator
PT Telkomsel.

Telkom has also benefitted substantially from the recent strengthening
of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar, reducing its repayment burden
for debt in foreign exchange, PT Kresna Graha Securities said.

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Indonesia sets max rupiah deposit rates at 11.25 pct

JAKARTA, September 11 (Reuters) - Indonesia's state-owned deposit
insurance corporation (LPS) has set its maximum rupiah guaranteed
deposit rates at 11.25 percent for Sept 15- Oct 14, the agency said on
Monday.

It also set the maximum dollar guaranteed deposit rates at 5 percent
for the same period.

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Indonesia's foreign exchange reserve may reach 43 bln USD

JAKARTA, September 11 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian central bank said
Monday the country's foreign exchange reserve could reach 43 billion
U.S. dollars by the end of the year, which would enable the government
to repay remaining debts from the International Monetary Fund.

The international reserves are moving constantly in the upward trend
and already reached some 42 billion dollars in August, Bank Indonesia
Governor Gubernur Burhanuddin Abdullah said in the sidelines of a
hearing with parliament members here.

"The foreign exchange reserves are estimated to amount 43 billion
dollars at the end of 2006," he said.

"If the international reserves are enough to finance imports for 4.5
months, the debts (from IMF) will be paid off."

Indonesia in June paid half of the remaining debts to the IMF and
currently still owes 3.8 billion dollars.

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Indonesia to save US$800 mln by early repayment of IMF debt

JAKARTA, September 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Early repayment of
Indonesia's remaining debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
will save the country US$800 million in interest, Finance Minister Sri
Mulyani Indrawati said.

Sri told a recent plenary meeting in Parliament that otherwise
Indonesia will have to pay US$800 million in interest until 2010 when
the debt falls due.

The government has repaid half of its debt of about US$7.8 billion to
the IMF in June and hopes to settle the remaining debt before the end
of this year.

Sri said despite the payment, the country's foreign exchange reserve
now exceeding US$40 billion and balance of payments have remained
stable.

The early repayment of the debt, therefore, will not affect the
country's economic stability, she said.

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Turnover of Indonesian financing firm shoots up 44pct

JAKARTA, September 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - The turnover of financing
firm PT U Finance Indonesia (UFI) shot up 44% to Rp779 billion
(US$86.6 million) in the first half of this year, over the same period
last year.

UFI President Aditya Syahrizal said the company offers a financing
scheme for the purchases of motor vehicles, mainly cars, accounting
for 99%, and motorcycles accounting for 1%.

Aditya said that this year, the company targets financing the
purchases of 18,000 units of cars, both brand new and second hand, for
which it is ready to spend Rp1.7 trillion.

Last year, the company spent Rp1,165 billion to finance the purchase
of cars and motorcycles.

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Founders of Indonesia's BNP reduce stakes

JAKARTA, September 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - The founding shareholders
of publicly listed Bank Nusantara Parahyangan (BNP) (JSX:BBNP) have
sold part of their stakes in the bank, which is in the process of take
over by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Acom Co. Ltd.

PT Hermawan Ladangarta has reduced its stake in BNP from 15.8 per cent
to 14 per cent and

PT Hermawan Ladang Investama from 15.8 per cent to 15 per cent in a
deal earlier this month.

The presidents of the two companies Afandi Hermawan dan Aling Hermawan
said the sales were for strategic purposes.

The two companies are owned by textile industrialist Hermawan Atang.

BNP corporate secretary Mario Yahya said Mitsubishi and Acom have sent
representatives to meet with the bank management to discussed the take
over plan.

The bank, which is based in Bandung, West Java, reported Rp10.2
billion in net profit in the first half of this year down 29 per cent
from the same period last year.

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Indonesia's Indomobil raises stake in Swadharma Finance to 90.92 pct from 51

JAKARTA, September 11 (XFN-ASIA) - PT Indomobil Sukses Internasional
has raised its stake in financing firm PT Swadharma Indotama Finance
to 90.92 pct from 51 pct previously, the company's president Gunadi
Sindhuwinata said in letter to the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

He said the increase came after Swadharma shareholders agreed to an
increase in the paid-up capital of the company to 54 bln rupiah from
10 bln. Indomobil decided to inject the additional 44 bln rupiah,
nearly doubling its stake in the firm.

Other key shareholders decided not to put in additional funds and as a
result the holdings of Bank BNI pension funds and PT Trihandayani
Utama were diluted to 8.17 pct and 0.91 pct, respectively. Previously
their stakes were 44.10 pct and 4.9 pct.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Indonesia's Tempo Scan signs agreement with GABA over 'Wyber' brand handover

JAKARTA, September 11 (XFN-ASIA) - PT Tempo Scan Pacific said it has
signed an agreement with Switzerland's GABA Ltd under which it will be
able to produce goods under the latter's brand name 'Wyber.'

Tempo Scan director Hamonangan Nasution, in a statement to the Jakarta
Stock Exchange said his firm will hold the rights to produce and sell
Wyber brand name products both domestically as well as in Singapore,
Malaysia and Brunei.

The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

"This is a good opportunity for us to develop products under the brand
name 'Wyber' and further expand our market in the pharmaceutical and
food supplements sector," he added.

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Singapore's UFS denies giving up on acquiring Indonesia's Kiani

JAKARTA, September 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Singapore forestry company
United Fiber System Ltd (UFS) has denied reports it has given up its
attempt to acquire pulp and paper maker PT Kiani Kertas.

Our interest in acquiring the pulp maker has not changed, UFS chief
executive officer Sven Edstrom said last weekend.

A local newspaper reported earlier that protracted negotiations had
prompted UFS to give up its ambition to wholly acquire the plant in
Kalimantan.

Separately, Abdul Rahman, a director of Bank Mandiri, said four other
investors have discussed with the bank possible take over of Kiani,
which has an annual production capacity of 525,000 tons of wood pulp.

The state bank leads creditors providing credits for Kiani giving it
the authority to deal with prospective buyers.

Edstrom said UFS is prepared to repay Kiani's debt of US$201 million
to Bank Mandiri and payment will be made when the final deal is
signed.

He said negotiation is still in progress with the owner of Kiani.

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Indonesia to tighten criteria for establishment of new airline

JAKARTA, September 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - The Transport Ministry
says it will tighten the conditions required for a new airline to be
established so that interested parties will have to be able to produce
a capital of at least Rp50 billion (US$5.6 million) and operate at
least five aircraft.

The airline must also own two of the five aircraft while the remaining
three could be leased, Air Transport Director General Moh, Iksan
Tatang said.

Under present regulations, a new airline is required to have only two
aircraft with a minimum capital of only Rp10 billion.

"Revision of a government regulation on airline operation has been
final," Tatang said.

"The new policy is to improve the feasibility of the operator,".

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Indonesia seeks postponement of AAF liquidation

JAKARTA, September 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - The Indonesian government
says it will suggest a postponement of the liquidation of urea
fertilizer company PT Asean Aceh Fertilizer, (AAF) virtually allowing
the company to lay idle for more than two years.

PT AAF was established by the ASEAN founding members - Indonesia,
Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. Scarcity in the
supply of natural gas feedstock in Aceh has forced the company to shut
down its operations.

Its shareholders, including majority owner Indonesia with a 60 per
cent stake, earlier agreed to liquidate the company.

AAF president Rauf Purnama said last year the company had a debt
obligation of Rp260 billion (US$29 million) not including Rp88 billion
in severance pay for its workers.

State Minister for State Enterprises Sugiharto gave no clear reason
for seeking the postponement.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Said Didu, the secretary of the State Minister,
said tender was already held to sell the assets of PT AAF and was won
by PT Bumi Persada with an offer of Rp509.6 billion.

However, with the decision of the government to postpone the
liquidation, the plan to sell the assets has to be reviewed, Didu
said.

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Indonesia's sugar production expected to rise to 2.45 mln tons this yr

JAKARTA, September 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - The country's sugar
production is expected to reach 2.45 million tons this year, up from
2.24 million tons in 2005, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono
said.

He said Indonesia does not need to import sugar this year as there are
sufficient supplies of sugar.

In the past several years the country has regularly imported up to
500,000 tons of sugar a year, but the annual imports have declined.

According to data at the sugar association, 58 sugar factories in the
country are expected to produce enough sugar to meet domestic
requirements until the first quarter of this year.

Observers, however, said the country's domestic consumption was around
2.4 million-2.5 million tons, therefore, imports of around
150,000-200,000 tons would be needed to serve as buffer stock.

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Indonesia's Astra Agro sees 2007 capex flat at 600 bln rupiah

JAKARTA, September 11 (XFN-ASIA) - Crude palm oil (CPO) producer PT
Astra Agro Lestari has targeted 2007 capital expenditure at 600 bln
rupiah, unchanged from this year's estimate, corporate secretary
Tjahyo Dwi Arianto.

He said the 2007 capex will go to construct a new CPO processing
plant, to plant additional trees and for infrastructure projects.

The new processing facility may cost around 7 mln usd, and will be
able to process 60 tons of fresh palm fruit per hour, he said.

Arianto added that the firm's CPO output is expected to grow 10-15 pct
next year from a revised forecast of 965,000 tons this year.

He added that the planned capex does not cover any expenses that may
arise for bio fuel development.

Astra Agro currently has 210,000 hectares of palm oil trees and about
3, 000 hectares of rubber trees.

Arianto said in the medium to longer term, Astra Agro wants to have
100, 000 hectares of palm oil trees and 50,000 hectares of rubber
trees.

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Broker call - Indonesia Astra Agro rated a 'buy', 
target price 10,300 rupiah-UOB

JAKARTA (XFN-ASIA) - UOB Kay Hian said it has initiated coverage on
crude palm oil (CPO) producer PT Astra Agro Lestari, rating the stock
a "buy" with a target price of 10,300 rupiah.

"We initiate coverage with a buy recommendation and target price
earnings ratio of 13.8 times 2008 forecast earnings, which is
undemanding compared with the Malaysian sector's 13-18 times," UOB Kay
Hian analyst David Chang said.

He said as the largest market cap stock and the best managed company
in the sector, Astra Agro deserves to trade at a premium valuation.

The firm's revenue is seen posting compound annual growth of 13.5 pct
from 2006-08 , with net income for the same period seen up 15.8 pct.

Chang said Astra Agro's earnings growth will come from higher CPO
prices, improved yields and an expansion of the company's mills.

He noted that the rapidly growing demand for CPO as a result of
increased interest in the production of biodiesel has boosted the
price of palm oil recently.

Currently, half of Astra Agro's plantantions are in their prime
production stage (10-14 years old), with 14 pct deemed to be in the
early production stage (6-9 years old).

Chang expects fresh palm fruit output to increase 11.1 pct to 3.9 mln
tons, and 9.7 pct to 4.3 mln tons, in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

Astra Agro is Indonesia's largest listed plantation company and is
79.7 pct owned by PT Astra International, in which Singapore-listed
Jardine Cycle & Carriage has a 50.1 pct controlling stake.

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Indonesian CPO exports reach 4.5 mln tons

MEDAN, North Sumatra, Sept 11 Asia Pulse - Indonesia's crude palm oil
(CPO) exports up to May this year reached 4.5 million tons, less than
half of the target for this year set at 11.3 million tons, CPO
producers' association chairman Derom Bangun said here on Friday.

He said demand for CPO abroad this year was good, particularly in the
European market.

"The good demand for CPO has boosted the export volumes and raised the
CPO price," he added.

The CPO price in the world markt now was US$530 to $US350 per ton
while at home the price per kg was about Rp4,245.

Considering the fact that demand at home was also increasing, there
was a possibility Indonesia's CPO exports would not increase this
year.

With good demand overseas, CPO exports should experince a boost and
this year's target of 11.3 million tons would hopefully be achieved,
he added.

Indonesia's CPO putput accounted for some 43 per cent of world
production totalling 36.5 million tons and Malaysia's for some 43.3
per cent, Astra Agro Lestari (AALI) director Julie Syaftari said
recently.

The rest was contributed by Nigeria, Thailand, Colombia and other countries.

Syaftari said the world's CPO production in 2006 was estimated at 36.5
million tons, an increase of 8 per cent if compared with the figure
the previous year.

"Indonesia's CPO production is predicted to increase by 12 per cent
this year to 15.7 million tons," she said.

She added that Malaysia's production was estimated to increase by 6
per cent to 15.8 million tons.

Malaysia's CPO consumption was projected to increase by 17 per cent
and Indonesia's by 6 per cent.

In the first semester of 2006, AALI's CPO sales reached 1.857 trillion
or an increase by 17.6 per cent compared with that in the previous
year.

The net profit it gained was recorded at 414.7 billion, an increase of
7.6 per cent.

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Indonesian palm oil prices extend losses, eye rupiah

JAKARTA, September 11 (Reuters) - Indonesia palm oil prices extended
losses on Monday, dragged down by a fall in Malaysian palm oil futures
with the market cautious ahead of an expected increase in demand from
India .

Traders said players were also eyeing the rupiah that has lost ground
against the U.S. dollar in the past few days and are waiting for a
correction in the Malaysian index before taking positions in the
market.

At the state marketing centre in Jakarta, crude palm oil traded lower
at 4,200 rupiah ($0.460) per kg on Monday, compared with 4,258 rupiah
on Wednesday. The centre did not hold any local tender on Thursday and
Friday.

"We are also watching the rupiah's movements. If it weakens further,
hopefully it will support the market," a trader in Jakarta said.

The rupiah <IDR=> was quoted 9,130 per dollar on Monday, compared with
9,115 on Friday.

There was no auction in North Sumatra's Medan, the main port for palm
oil exports.

"There was no fresh support to the market. Malaysia has lost much and
demand was very thin. The combination of both made the market very
quiet," a Medan-based trader.

"The market will be more active if there is a correction in Malaysia,"
the trader said, adding the market was also expecting demand from
India to rise in the coming weeks which may boost prices.

Thin demand also put pressure on cooking oil prices. In Jakarta, olein
was traded lower at 4,725 rupiah per kg, compared with 4,750 rupiah on
Friday.

On the export front in Medan, sellers offered crude palm oil for
September shipment at $432.5 a tonne, with bids seen at $427.5.

October shipments were quoted at $430 a tonne, while bids stood at $425.

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Malaysia calls for stabilisation of rubber price

KUALA LUMPUR, September 11 (AFP) -- Malaysia Monday called for rubber
prices to be stabilised after recent fluctuations in prices for the
commodity, state Bernama news agency reported.

The plantation industries and commodities minister Peter Chin Fah Kui
said the International Rubber Consortium had to come up with measures
to stabilise the price of rubber after its recent downtrend.

"Rubber price should not go up too high or too low. It has to be at
sustainable level and provide a reasonable base for producers," he was
quoted by Bernama as saying.

The consortium is a company formed four years ago with the agreement
of three major rubber producing countries -- Malaysia, Thailand and
Indonesia. It acts as a mechanism to stabilise rubber prices by
monitoring world supply.

Chin said rubber prices had dropped in the last two months, to 6.49
ringgit in September from a June high of 8.52 ringgit per kilogram
(2.43 dollars).

He said the ideal price for rubber was 1.50-1.70 dollars per kilogram.

Malaysia's representative in the rubber consortium, Mahmood Abdul
Kadir said the consortium has yet to play a role as rubber prices for
the past few years have been good, Bernama reported.

"The main concern is that prices have been up too drastically and down
too steeply. One of the main factors that caused the price to go up is
speculation, and not the fundamentals, as supply and demand has been
good," he said.

"Once the speculation stopped, the price went down immediately."

Mahmood said the consortium would meet in Kuala Lumpur next week to
discuss the fluctuations and make recommendations.

In August, Malaysia's rubber board said prices which are at 20-year
highs would stay firm in the long-term as global demand outstripped
supply and oil prices boost the cost of alternatives.

Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia account for some 80 percent of the
world's natural rubber output.

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San Miguel set to establish feed mill in Manado, Indonesia

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, September 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Philippine
food and agribusiness giant San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is reportedly
planning to establish a modern feed mill in Manado, Indonesia in a bid
to produce cheaper feed products for Mindanao's animal and halal
poultry industries.

Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana, chair of the Mindanao Economic and
Development Council (MedCo), said the company has signified to develop
Manado and other areas in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province as
primary source of cheaper corn and other raw materials for its feed
processing operations.

He noted one of the company's initial considerations in putting up a
plant in Manado is to supply the needs of the halal poultry industry
for corn-based feeds.

"The main problem of halal poultry is the price and supply of
corn-based feeds so this proposed venture will be a big help in our
efforts to sustain the industry," Leyretana said.

According to him, SMC's venture in Manado will directly benefit
poultry and swine raisers in the island, which has direct shipping
links with the Indonesian port city.

"Our corn is priced higher here than in Manado so the company wants to
put up a plant there to take advantage of its cheaper corn products,"
Leyretana said.

The commercial buying price of corn in Mindanao has fluctuated between
P6 to P9 a kilo over the last decade, with the bulk of produce coming
from the northern and southwestern Mindanao area.

No immediate data is available regarding the prices of corn in
Indonesia but corn products from North Sulawesi that are unloaded at
the Makar port here reportedly average at only P5 per kilo.

During a corn glut in Mindanao in the summer of 1998, local farmers
raised a big howl over the shipment of corn from Indonesia that even
reached as low as P3.50 a kilo.

Leyretana said the SMC had agreed to produce cheaper feeds for the
halal poultry industry to help the government's ongoing efforts to
expand the market of local halal food products in the Middle East and
Muslim-dominated countries in Southeast Asia.

He said the market for halal (Islamically permissible) poultry
products in the Middle East is currently pegged at 15,400 metric tons
(MT) annually or 1,284 MT a month.

Mindanao's annual chicken production averages at 212,456 MT but the
bulk of the produce mainly goes to the domestic markets.

"If we can only get at least two percent of the Middle East market, it
would bring tremendous opportunities down the line especially in terms
of jobs and the development of various related industries," Leyretana
said.

Halal refers to food that underwent processes required in Islamic laws
and teachings, free from filth and contamination and not derived from
Haram (prohibited sources). In cases of meat, animals must be
slaughtered in accordance to certain Islamic teachings.

By food safety standards, halal is considered a quality control system
by itself that puts emphasis on critical control points involving
hygienic and disease-free preparation of foods from farm to plate.
Halal seal marked on labels of food and non-food products will inform
Muslim consumers that the product is free from any Haram or pork, lard
from swine and alcohol.

The Muslim Business Forum based in this city earlier said the global
Halal market now serves over 1.48 billion Muslims.

The Center for American Muslim Research and Information estimates the
international halal food trade is worth US$150 billion a year, with
the buying power of Muslims in the United States alone pegged at US$12
billion.

Other markets with high purchasing power for halal-certified foods
include Singapore, Hong Kong, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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