Indonesia has the strength and opportunity to be the best halal production center in the world, Vice President Ma’ruf Amin said at the 2022 Adinata Syariah Talkshow.
“Observing the prospects of economic growth in Indonesia in a global condition that must be anticipated, I underline some strengths to realize Indonesia’s vision as the world’s best halal production center,” he added.
According to the Vice President, the first strength is the national sharia economy and finance that has been proven to have supported Indonesia during the pandemic, even to have inclusively involved all communities through empowerment efforts.
He highlighted that Bank Indonesia has said that the share or potential of the halal value chain can support the national economy by 25 percent.
“Agriculture, which ranked first, contributes about 51 percent, the halal food sector 27 percent, Muslim-friendly tourism 16 percent, and Muslim fashion 6 percent,” Amin said.
Second is the high demand for halal products, he noted. The halal lifestyle has become popular in Indonesia, thus it could potentially increase the growth of halal products, he pointed out.
According to Amin, for Muslims themselves, consuming halal products is not only a matter of faith but is also related to the health and safety aspects of products.
“Another important challenge is to ensure the halalness of the product, so through halal certification, these products can be accepted, both in the domestic and the global market, especially in Muslim countries,” he said.
Third, the sharia finance sector must be able to synergize to develop the halal product industry sector by providing support through financing, he said. The State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2022 has ranked Indonesia fourth in Islamic economy development, second in the halal food sector, and third in the Muslim fashion sector.— ANTARA
