The Department of Tourism (DOT) is eyeing to duplicate the tourism strategy of Malaysia through the Halal programs which, it said, bolstered Malaysia's economy, especially in the food tourism industry.

Tourism Sec. Christina Garcia Frasco met Malaysia H.E Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Binti Shukri, Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation – Tourism Ministerial Meeting (APEC-TMM) in Bangkok, Thailand to explore possible continuing collaboration and partnership initiatives between The Philippines and Malaysia.

Frasco shared DOT’s interest in continuing its cordial tourism exchanges with Malaysia, noting that Philippines and Malaysia have a lot in common in terms of culture, values and family orientation.

“We have every intention to continue this partnership between the Philippines and Malaysia. Both our countries have a shared heritage, values, value for family community, and culture. We view these as one of the core strengths of Malaysia. We anticipate that as we continue our partnership, the exchange of best practices on culture and heritage will be some of the key points of our agreement,” said Frasco.

DOT also expressed admiration for Malaysia’s success in promoting Halal-certified food, which attracts local and foreign food enthusiasts including the Filipinos, particularly in Mindanao, and became popular in Asia and even in non-Muslim countries.

Halal is an Arabic word that means permissible or lawful, which in reference to food, is something that is clean and good for the health.

"We have every reason to visit each other’s country. We intend to learn from your country on the very successful Halal programs. A large part of the population in the Mindanao Region are very interested in Halal tourism,” Frasco addressed to MOTAC.

According to DOT, among the ASEAN countries, Malaysia is the Philippines’ 2nd top visitor, recording 17,797 Malaysian travelers visited the country from February to August 14, this year. (Jun Marcos Tadios)