There are many avenues where Brunei can enter into the global halal industry without having to concentrate on producing goods, said an industry analyst. And those who do want to produce food products do not have to limit themselves to producing locally, said Hajj Abdalhamid Evans, managing director of Imarat Consultants, a niche consulting firm concentrating in the halal market.

"There are a lot of opportunities available and entering the market is not just about who can make the most chickens. You can own the company that's based on the other side of the world, and production doesn't have to be in your own backyard.

"Brunei owns a large cattle ranch in Australia and importing their own beef, and this is a good model to follow that should be extended into Brunei's thinking, instead of thinking what they need to do here.

"The world is very global and in one way of looking at it, there are no boundaries, in terms of the movement of the products, commodities, money and information. It has become a borderless world," said Evans, who was also one of the panelists at the International Halal Product Conference.

"The Gulf Cooperation Council is paying attention to halal in general and the Muslim world is being very much driven by Southeast Asia, so changes are going to happen where Arabs are coming into the market not just as consumers but to take a proactive role in the market, because they have a lot of wealth at their disposal. So we're going to see mergers and acquisitions from the Muslim world ... and it's easy because a food company can be converted into a halal company," he said. "You don't have to reinvent the wheel, you can buy it."

Evans said that the key value is to find out whether someone wants to produce or trade in Brunei. The sultanate has to identify what its value proposition is and why someone from another country would want to do something with it. "Having partners will be really important because Brunei is a small country that's not significant in terms of being a market," he added.

Evans also highlighted that regular reassessment and planning should be done to keep Brunei companies on track. "Outlining the next set of steps is going to be important for Brunei... because it's still slightly theoretical, and it needs the implementation ... sped up a little bit."