Malaysia, Indonesia push plan to form ASEAN halal council

JAKARTA: Malaysia and Indonesia are proposing the formation of a halal council for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, their officials have said, as they seek to collaborate efforts to strengthen halal economy in the region. The neighboring countries, along with Brunei, are ASEAN members and Muslim-majority nations, accounting for about 45 percent of the bloc’s population of more than 680 million. They have been actively pursuing efforts to capture the global halal market, which has been