“To make Indonesia rank first in SGIE, or to at least become a hub for global Islamic economy industry, six things must be done; one of them is accelerating the ratification of the Islamic Economy Bill,” he said when contacted here on Monday.
The SGIE has become a topic of discussion among Indonesians ever since it was mentioned in the vice presidential debate round on Friday (December 22, 2023).
Farras, who is also a researcher at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), said that SGIE is one of the references for all countries to develop the Islamic economy because it contains comparisons with other countries in the world.
As a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia has a great potential to rank first in the SGIE report, he added.
This potential is reflected by the government’s policy requiring halal certification for food and beverage products sold in Indonesia, he said.
There is also potential for expansion of halal cosmetic products, which not only reach women but also men.
He expounded that, in addition to accelerating the bill’s ratification, some other steps to increase Indonesia’s ranking in the SGIE report are creating a clear and comprehensive regulation on the halal industry area as well as adding new Harmonized System (HS) codes for halal products.
“What is also important is including the issue of the halal economy into the research agenda of RPJPN (national long-term development plan) and RPJMN (national medium-term development plan),” he said.
The other things that are also important are integrating the halal industry into the national research agenda and preparing supporting infrastructure for halal certification.
Related news: 3.4 million products in Indonesia have been halal-certified: BPJPH
Related news: Japanese entrepreneur welcomes efforts to make halal more inclusive
Translator: Moch Mardiansyah, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
