Halal certification among key potentials for Ukraine-M'sia trade

Against the backdrop of an ongoing war with Russia, the Ukraine government has continued pursuing external trade recovery, including discussions with Malaysia during a two-day official visit.

Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Ukraine’s Economy Deputy Minister Taras Kachka revealed that official talks, which began five years ago, had led to the inaugural Joint Trade Committee meeting yesterday.

Kachka (above, right) said the meeting included various Malaysian federal agencies led by Investment, Trade, and Industry Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong, including the Islamic Development Department (Jakim).

A potential area of Ukraine-Malaysia cooperation that was discussed included expanding existing markets for halal-certified products.

“We have a halal certification centre in Ukraine and yesterday we had a good discussion on this.

“We see that there is an understanding that halal certification in Ukraine is recognisable to Malaysian authorities, and so it’s a good direction for cooperation.

“We can supply goods that respect and comply with religious demands and traditions in Malaysia,” said Kachka, who was accompanied by the Ukraine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur’s interim charge d’affaires Denys Mykhailiuk.

Mykhailiuk said there is currently one Jakim-recognised halal certification centre in Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv and plans are underway to recognise at least two other facilities.

“The only obstacle for Jakim authorities was that, during the wartime, they were prohibited from visiting Ukraine.

“We discussed this issue yesterday during the main joint trade committee meeting and subsequent sub-committee meetings.

“We hope there will be permissions from Malaysia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and Jakim itself to come and visit (the other two halal certification centres),” said Mykhailiuk who described the cooperation as mutually beneficial for both countries.

Currently, the Ukrainian LLC Certification Center is on a list of over 50 international bodies recognised by Jakim on halal certification.

According to Mykhailiuk, Ukraine’s traditional trade partners and markets for halal products include countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

“For Malaysia, the cooperation is also vital because, for every product from Ukraine that is certified halal, it would be written (on the product) as Malaysian certified, so that’s direct marketing.

“The market for halal products from Ukraine is estimated to reach several billion USD per year and so the more halal certifications (issued) the better for you (Malaysia),” he said.

Within Ukraine, Kachka said the country’s Muslim minority comprises around two million people, including some 500,000 ethnic Tartar from Crimea whose land was occupied by Russian forces.

He also described Kyiv as Ukraine’s multi-cultural capital and a melting pot of various religions since ancient times.

‘Active trade partner’

Meanwhile, Kachka said that while Ukraine and Malaysia are currently in the second tier of trade partnership, there are recent positive indicators which recorded bilateral trade at around USD300 million - around 90 percent of pre-war numbers from 2021.

He said the positive developments were partly due to Ukraine’s restoring of “normal navigation” to the country’s seaports around Odesa - on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea - previously controlled by Russian forces.

“Ukraine, like Malaysia, exports the majority of our products by sea. Before the war, our exports were transported directly from Ukrainian seaports.

“When Russia started to block seaports in the Black Sea, including three ports in Odesa, for us it was a shock and so we started to re-route our trade flows through our neighbours including Romania,” he explained.

“In September 2023, thanks to the successes of the Ukrainian army, we started to send vessels directly without the consent of Russia with our security support.

“Slowly, we managed to achieve the volume of exports comparable to pre-war levels.

“Our record is almost 12 million tonnes per month, while pre-war it was about 14 million tonnes per month,” said Kachka, adding that Ukrainian exports to Malaysia include sunflower oil.

He said agricultural products are the largest percentage of Ukrainian exports, such as wheat and corn which are a major part of the food supply chain in many countries including in Europe, China, and Indonesia.

On the discussions with Malaysia, Kachka said both governments identified the agricultural sector as a mutual core interest - in areas of food security as well as sustainable development, including within the palm oil industry.

He added that other areas of bilateral trade interest included the pharmaceutical sector, digital economy, and aerospace industry.

It was previously reported that trade between Malaysia and Ukraine showed promising growth, reflecting the strengthening economic ties between the two nations, reaching RM640.33 million from January to September 2024, a 151.2 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

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