With more than 27 per cent of the world pop�ulation, or 1.8 billion people - and demand for food consumption worth US$265 billion a year - the steadily growing Muslim market can help boost Thai exports after the global economic downturn subdued and took the wind out of developed countries, Deputy Prime Minister Trairong Suwankhiri said at WhasibPhuket 2010: World Halal Science, Industry and Business conference last weekend

Thailand's halal food exports this year are expected to jump by 30 per cent from Bt100 billion last year.

Thailand should not focus only on exporting halal food, but also services such as hospitals, restaurants and tourism, he said.

Thailand is the world's 12th largest food sup�plier, with its exports accounting for 2.4 per cent of global food trade. However, Thailand's halal exports had only a 0.65percent share of the market worth $1.71 billion in 2006. People in 186 countries consume halal food. Halal is an expanding market, growing about 50 per cent a year on average, and has strong pur�chasing power.

People from the Middle East and Muslims are also key visitors to Thailand.

The major Muslim food exporters are the European Union, United States and Australia, as their sophisticated manufacturing is widely accepted by Muslim countries.

To promote Thai halal food, the government will focus more on the Indonesia, Malaysia ThailandGolden Triangle (IMTGT).

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world while Malaysia's halal standard is widely accepted. Thailand is the world's major food supplier. The integration of these three countries will encourage Thailand to become a halal food manufacturing hub in the region, he said.

The government plans to restructure the Halal Science Centre (HSC) under Chulalongkorn University to become an inde�pendent institute to facilitate its operations.

HSC director Winai Dahran said if the centre could be developed further, it would have more authority and flexibility to promote the development of halal science and technology. The centre could work within a specified budg�et for management instead of having to ask for approval project by project, as is the case now.

Most Asean members have their own halal food institutes. Vietnam, which is a major food export rival, is considering setting up one to further promote both manufacturing and exporting.

"Foodscience technical knowledge will boost Thailand's food manufacturing credibili�ty," he said.

Meeting halal requirements will improve market access for Thai food.

During the conference, the HSC and 10 countries with Muslims including Asean, Turkey and Switzerland agreed to jointly develop a halal scientific institute to create a global stan�dard.

Banchong Withayametha, deputy director of the HSC's Pattani office, said Thailand can not only be a centre for halal food exports, but also for halal services such as hospitals and med�ical care. Thai enterprises should adopt the halal standard for the service and hospitality industries.

Examples of halal services are providing human resources who can speak Arabic to assist tourists, offering a halal menu at restaurants and making available separate rooms for Muslim activities, he said.