REGIONS BRIEF

Cebu urged to promote ‘halal tourism’CEBU CITY—Cebu needs to put up facilities that would promote “halal tourism” in order to attract a portion of over 200 million tourists from Muslim countries, including those from Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia. Malaysia Ambassador to the Philippines Dato Abdul Malek Melvin Castelino said these facilities should be found in hotels, resorts and even restaurants. “We are working to make it advocated here [in Cebu], this of course includes more Muslim-friendly hotels, more halal restaurants and supply chains that support this halal industry together with the tourism sector,” he said. Halal (Arabic for permissible) refers to food prepared according to Islamic rules and tradition. Castelino was in Cebu last week to meet with local officials and to push for an increase in tourism traffic between Malaysia and the Philippines, in particular with Cebu. “This is an untapped market for Cebu and as you know the growth in halal industry as a whole would touch around $7.7 trillion in 2025 so I think countries like the Philippines and Malaysia and of course the Asean can gain from this industry,” Castelino said. —DALE G. ISRAEL INQ