Islamic banks in future have three roles. The first role is to provide capital for halal product industriesJakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin highlighted three key roles that Islamic banks must play to partake in the nation's economic and Islamic financial development.
"Islamic banks in future have three roles. The first role is to provide capital for halal product industries," Vice President Amin noted in his keynote speech at an International Conference on Islamic Economics held via teleconference here on Tuesday.
The government is currently striving to meet the domestic and global demand for halal products, and accessible capital access for halal industries will enhance the quantity and quality of Indonesian halal industries, the vice president affirmed.
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"Global economic openness enhances economic relations among countries, and Islamic banks must capitalize on this opportunity by facilitating transactions at the global level," Amin opined.
The second role that Islamic banks should play is to ensure capital access for micro, small, medium, and large enterprises, he stated.
The conversion of regional development banks into Islamic banks could be viewed as an option to expand the reach of Islamic banks to businesses operating at the regional level, the vice president stated.
"The performance of Islamic banks can be enhanced by encouraging regional development banks converting into Islamic banks apart from expanding Islamic finance units in existing regional banks," Amin emphasized.
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Facilitating large-scale transactions at the global level is the third role that Indonesian Islamic banks must play, he noted.
"Current Islamic banks must enhance their role to cater to large transactions at the global level without neglecting their role in financing domestic businesses, particularly MSMEs," Vice President Amin stated.
The decision to merge three Islamic banks of state-owned banks into Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) was taken to enhance Indonesian Islamic banks' performance to penetrate the global market, Amin pointed out.
"Islamic banks played a strategic role in developing Indonesia as a global Islamic financial hub," the vice president remarked.
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Translator: Fransiska N, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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