Internationalization Promotion Policies in the Halal Food Industry: Comparison of China (Ningxia) and Malaysia

It is widely recognized that firms seeking to internationalize their activities have to face obstacles and deal with many uncertainties. There is also a broad consensus to the effect that public institutions can mitigate these barriers and facilitate the internationalization process. But it is still quite difficult to measure the exact efficiency of these policies, and it is unclear exactly which export promotion measures are more suitable and adapted to the specific barriers found in a given industry, in our case, the halal food industry. Based on a thorough field research in the halal food industries of the Ningxia Autonomous Hui Region of China and Malaysia, the present article shall explicitly examine how different public agencies can promote and ease access of local firms to international markets. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the present article will allow us to formulate general conclusions regarding the relationship between firm internationalization and public policies, as well as useful and specific insights for other halal food industries.