Unlocking multi-trillion-dollar opportunities
India-based Zion Market Research reported that the global Halal food market was valued at over 2.3 trillion USD in 2022 and is projected to surpass 4 trillion USD by 2030, growing at a compound annual rate of 7.7%.
Le Anh Ngoc, head of the quality and conformity assessment division under the National Authority for Agro-Forestry-Fishery Quality, Processing and Market Development (NAFIQPM) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, stated that Vietnam holds strong advantages in this sector, largely due to its geographical proximity to large Muslim-majority markets.
In Southeast Asia alone, he noted, Muslims represent roughly 42% of the population. Furthermore, Vietnamese export staples such as rice, tea, coffee, cashews, pepper, and seafood naturally align with Islamic dietary requirements.
Indonesia and Malaysia remain the prime regional gateways. Indonesia’s Halal market spending reached 330.5 billion USD in 2025, making it the world’s largest consumer of Halal food and beverages. Key Vietnamese goods with high potential include dairy, snacks, dried noodles, and fishery products, said Trade Counsellor Pham The Cuong at the Vietnam Trade Office in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Malaysia imports over 20 billion USD in Halal food annually, ranking among the top buyers within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Beyond Southeast Asia, the Middle East represents another high-value destination. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where 80% of agricultural products are imported, agri-food imports topped 16 billion USD in 2025.
With the Vietnam–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) taking effect in February 2026, Vietnamese exporters now enjoy enhanced competitive leverage in the Gulf region as the UAE also serves as a vital logistics gateway for Vietnamese agricultural products to enter other Middle Eastern markets, according to Tran Tan Sy, CEO of the Vietnam Food Pavilion in the UAE.
Overcoming certification and logistics bottlenecks
Despite vast potential, Vietnam’s market share remains modest. NAFIQPM data shows that between 2024 and 2026, only 1,000 to 1,300 Vietnamese businesses held active Halal certificates, representing a mere 0.2% of total active enterprises nationwide.
Industry experts identify certification as the primary bottleneck. There are no universal Halal standards; each importing nation enforces its own accreditation system, explained Ba Thi Nguyet Thu, Director of the HalalViet Promotion and Experience Centre.
Prominent examples include Malaysia’s JAKIM, Indonesia’s BPJPH, Saudi Arabia’s SFDA, and the UAE’s MoIAT/ESMA.
Furthermore, high maintenance fees and extended evaluation periods, lasting from six to 12 months, pose severe challenges to most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
On top of that, strict Halal regulations regarding cross-contamination risks across harvesting, warehousing, packaging, and transportation, combined with Vietnam’s lack of dedicated Halal logistics infrastructure, escalate the risk of customs rejection at destination ports, Thu pointed out.
To address these challenges, she urged Vietnamese businesses to build closed-loop Halal value chains spanning raw material zones, processing, logistics, and distribution while perfecting traceability systems for Halal products.
It is also essential to bolster bilateral and multilateral cooperation with international Halal organisations to establish mutual recognition agreements on Halal standards and certification, she added.
Ultimately, navigating the global Halal market demands a long-term strategic vision. By aligning standard compliance with targeted product development, Vietnamese enterprises can strengthen their adaptability, build international credibility, and solidify their position in the global Halal food supply chain./.
