The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry will showcase local halal creative economy products at the 2022 G20 Summit, especially to participants from the Middle East, to demonstrate Indonesia’s potential as a halal product exporter.
“The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has curated a number of halal and export-oriented creative economy products to be displayed at the G20 Summit,” Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno stated while attending the Jogja Halal Fest, as quoted from a statement.
According to the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2020-2021, Indonesia’s sharia economy sector is ranked fourth in the world, increasing by one rank as compared to the earlier report. Indonesia has been among the world’s five largest countries to export halal food products to members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
“Hence, Indonesia should become a key player in the halal and sharia industry,” the minister remarked.
Furthermore, Indonesia is the largest halal food market in the world and spends US$146.7 billion on the sector, he noted. He remarked that the Islamic creative economy sector, as a part of the halal industry, has myriad potentials to be developed.
Fashion products, halal culinary arts, sharia financial products, sharia hotels, Muslim-friendly travel services, as well as Islamic books and films recently have encouraged the growth of sharia economy in Indonesia.
Currently, the demand for halal and Muslim-friendly tourism is increasing due to the development of several sharia products and additional services that are also supported by various banks, according to Uno.
The minister expected that the development of sharia economy in Indonesia can advance the national economy and create several job opportunities.
“We are targeting tourism visits to Indonesia to increase to 1.4 billion, supported by our Muslim-friendly tourism, halal restaurants, as well as Muslim fashion sector that are (currently) in great demand,” he stated.—Antara
