ASIATODAY.ID, TANJUNGPINANG – The Bintan Inti Halal Hub area, Riau Islands has become one of the halal industrial areas developed by the government, as an effort to make Indonesia the world’s leading center for halal producers.
One of the keys to developing the halal industry is building a strong halal value chain ecosystem from upstream to downstream. Because, it will not only increase exports of halal products, but also make Indonesia a major player in the global halal value chain.
The Vice President of Indonesia, Maruf Amin, encouraged Indonesia to collaborate with Malaysia and Singapore to develop international halal standards. This was conveyed by Maruf when inaugurating the Opening of the Riau Islands Ramadan Fair (Kurma) 2024 and the Go Global Halal Products Seminar at the Riau Islands Regional Building, Friday, March 15 2024.
Maruf said that this was strategic because the Riau Islands were Indonesia’s border gate with neighboring countries in the ASEAN region, namely Malaysia and Singapore.
“International halal standards need to be developed through collaboration with other countries’ halal institutions, in order to encourage the development of regional and global halal ecosystems, as well as contribute to regional economic growth. In this case, collaboration with Malaysia and Singapore for example,” he said.
Maruf said that the effectiveness of the halal certification business process is one of the keys to strengthening the halal value chain ecosystem.
In his speech, Maruf assessed the need to strengthen the halal value chain ecosystem infrastructure to increase the competitiveness and productivity of the halal industry. One of the reinforcements in question is regarding the halal certification business process.
“This includes strengthening the upstream sector, namely certification of halal slaughterhouses and slaughterhouses. Various fiscal and non-fiscal incentives can be provided to increase the participation of halal value chain actors,” he explained.
After the upstream process, Maruf requested that the sharia business curation, incubation and mentoring program be optimized by involving communities, including mosques and Islamic boarding schools.
“Ideally, the mentoring commitment is carried out until Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises have successfully penetrated the export market,” he added.
On the same occasion, the Governor of the Riau Islands, Ansar Ahmad, said that so far his region had developed a sharia financial ecosystem through the Halal Center program located at the Abdurahman State Islamic College (STAIN) and the Batam Polytechnic. This program includes halal certification which has resulted in 10,845 halal certificates, mentoring, training, product curation, and expanding the market share of halal products.
“Currently, the Riau Islands are also producers of halal products, not only to meet the domestic but also global halal product market, which in the period 2022 – 2023 has contributed exports of approximately IDR 120 billion through the Bintan Industrial Estate as the Bintan Core Halal Hub Area,” he said. (ATN)
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