KUALA LUMPUR: Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Berhad (ANGKASA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Vietnam Halal Cooperative (COOPHVN) to expand the halal sector and strengthen cooperative relations between Malaysia and Vietnam.
The MoU was signed on the first day of ANGKASA’s working visit to Hanoi, Vietnam, in conjunction with the agency’s ASEAN Tour programme. The delegation, led by ANGKASA and ASEAN Cooperative Organisation (ACO) president Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Fattah Abdullah, is in Vietnam until Jan 22.
Abdul Fattah said that the MoU opens up new opportunities for promoting Malaysia’s cooperatives in the halal sector and underscores ANGKASA’s commitment to mobilising Koperasi Kariah Masjid (mosque cooperatives) as a key driver of socio-economic development.
“Through this strategic collaboration, ANGKASA will share its expertise in mosque and school cooperative models. We have also been asked to assist the Muslim community in Ho Chi Minh City in establishing a mosque cooperative.
“This initiative is expected to contribute significantly to the development of cooperatives based on Islamic values, that are in line with the philosophy and principles of cooperatives,” he said in a statement today.
Abdul Fattah said that this initiative is a result of ANGKASA’s efforts to introduce mosque and school cooperative models to the Muslim community in Vietnam and the broader ASEAN region. The aim is to empower the Muslim community’s economy, promote halal products, and strengthen trade networks between Malaysia and Vietnam.
Following the mosque cooperative introduction programme, conducted with the Vietnam Halal group from May 24 to 26 last year, the Vietnam Halal Cooperative was established in Hanoi to support the economic empowerment of the Muslim community in Ho Chi Minh City.
Since last year, ANGKASA, as the apex body of the national cooperative movement, has been actively guiding the development of cooperatives in the halal sector in Vietnam through training programmes, technical visits, and the sharing of halal technology.
The ongoing visit to Vietnam also included exposure to halal slaughtering technology and certification, alongside strategic discussions with the local Muslim community.
Additionally, the working visit, organised by ACO, witnessed the inauguration of a halal shop and restaurant by COOPHVN in Hanoi, which serves high-quality halal food while promoting the cooperative restaurant model within the local Muslim community.
Also present at the event were COOPHVN managing director Nại Thành Hoàng Gia; COOPHVN Secretariat Lê Khắc Hoàng Sơn; HANOI XANH COOP president Nguyệt Thu and Koperasi Pelancongan Homestay Sedim Kulim Berhad chairman Abdul Mutalib Che Sa.
The Koperasi Bersatu Maju Hulu Chuchoh (KOBEMAH) chairman Shafie Waris and ANGKASA Koperasi Kariah Masjid’s acting senior manager (Development and Business Division) Mohd Safian Abdul Rahman were also present.
The delegation is also scheduled to engage in visits and strategic discussions with stakeholders such as that country’s cooperative parent body, the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA), and the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
“ANGKASA aims to expand cooperation in the halal sector in Vietnam and the ASEAN region, creating wider opportunities for Malaysian halal products to the ASEAN market and introducing cooperatives in the halal sector as a profitable business model.
“This cooperation is expected to serve as a model for strengthened regional relations, in line with ANGKASA’s visions to position cooperatives as a key sector for community development at the national and international levels,” read the statement.