VP Ma'ruf Amin Seeks World's Largest Halal Producer Tag for Indonesia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has set the target of making Indonesia the world’s largest halal producer by 2024, considering its vast human resource potential, especially Muslims, who constitute 87 percent of the nation’s population.

“The goal is to become the largest halal producer in the world by 2024. We are sure. Why? Because we have potential. Our domestic consumers must be big, it remains just how we become halal producers as the global hub," Ma'ruf Amin said at a press conference after a web seminar on ‘Indonesia to the Center for World Halal Producers’ at the Vice Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Saturday.

As a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, the Vice President continued, Indonesia is a very decisive market in the world trade in halal products. However, so far, Indonesia has only played a limited role as a halal label provider for products made by other countries.

“More than 50 of the world’s halal certificate institutions have received endorsements from Indonesia. So, Indonesia is indeed a stapler, a craftsman to legalize halal products in various countries in the world,” Ma'ruf observed.

Therefore, the Vice President urged all stakeholders in the industrial world to take advantage of the potential of Indonesia's halal market by increasing the export of halal products, particularly from the food and beverage industry.

Referring to the 2019 Global Islamic Economic Report, Ma'ruf said currently, the largest halal producer in the world is Brazil, whose exports are valued at US$5.5 billion, and Australia, with exports worth US$2.4 billion.

“We must be able to exploit the potential of the world's halal market by increasing our exports, which currently only account for 3.8 percent of the total global halal market,” he noted.

Optimism over Indonesia’s chances of emerging as the largest halal producer in the world is also strengthened by the potential for increased consumption of halal products globally, which has continued to rise every year. Global demand for halal products in 2018 stood at US$2.2 trillion and is projected to touch US$3.2 trillion by 2024.

“With an estimated Muslim population that will reach 2.2 billion people in 2030, the global halal industry market economy will continue to increase rapidly. Of course, this is a huge potential that Indonesia must take advantage of by meeting global needs through export of halal products from Indonesia,” the Vice President said.

Also Read: Halal Certification for Export Products to Boost Added Value: VP Ma'ruf Amin

ANTARA