"We continue to develop and strengthen support services for free halal certification for industry owners through Saliha, which we plan to launch in January 2024," Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita stated in Bali on Thursday (December 28).
In future, the Saliha application will be the main requirement in applying for free halal certification at the ministry's Halal Inspection Institute, Kartasasmita explained.
Saliha is a Halal Industry Data Collection Information System developed by the Industry Ministry to facilitate data collection and selection for Halal Industry Certification assistance in 2023.
The minister noted that his side pays special attention to the halal industry since the sector brings enormous potential for Indonesia and the world.
In the latest State of the Global Islamic Economy (SGIE) report on December 26, Indonesia stood third in the 2022 Global Islamic Economy Indicator Ranking, or up one rank from the previous year.
Kartasasmita saw this indicator as an encouragement to continue to develop halal products, such as halal food and beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and fashion in Indonesia.
He remarked that imports from countries that are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the halal food and beverage sector reached US$265.1 billion in 2022. It is estimated that this value will increase in the next two years to reach US$368.3 billion.
"Therefore, we plan to encourage the growth of halal products in Indonesia to be able to accommodate the global market and also the domestic market," he remarked.
He expressed hope that textile products, such as mukenas (praying clothes) and headscarves, would also be produced by Indonesia, where majority of the population is Muslim.
"It would be a shame if we did not provide ourselves with the products needed by our consumers, the halal market in Indonesia," he stated.
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Translator: Maria Cicilia G P, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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