Advancing Sharia Economy Through Halal Industry SMEs

Alhamdulillah, in recent years the Islamic economy in Indonesia has developed quite well. The development of the Sharia economy itself is supported by many parties, from government institutions, and financial institutions, to the community.

There have been many studies proving the potential of Islamic economics in Indonesia. At the "Kick Off Synergy for Accelerating Development of Halal Industry MSMEs" organized by the National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance (KNEKS) in August 2021, the speakers discussed the huge potential of the Islamic economy in Indonesia, particularly through the MSMEs in the halal industry.

Moreover, Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, which is great potential for the growth and development of the Islamic economy.

And one of the drivers of the national Sharia economy is the halal product sector, in this case, MSMEs in Indonesia have the potential to become producers of halal products in the world.

According to Halim Alamsyah, an Expert Staff of the Minister of Finance in the field of Islamic Finance and Finance, MSMEs play an important role in creating a halal ecosystem in Indonesia and internationally.

Vice President KH Ma'ruf Amin in the event also appealed to MSMEs to be able to continue to grow and meet global market demands, and continue to pay attention to the quality and quantity of each product.

Unfortunately, Indonesia currently has many obstacles and obstacles in maximizing this potential. And to maximize it, we need synergy from various parties to strengthen the halal industry in Indonesia.

How to Maximize the Potential of the MSME Halal Industry

Developing Indonesia's sharia economy through the halal MSME industry, certainly requires cooperation from the state, private sector, and the community. The halal industry itself will not grow without the help of our society.

There are several ways that we might be able to do to maximize the potential of our MSMEs, especially in the Halal Industry, including:

Establishment of the Halal Ecosystem

Halal Ecosystem is a community ecosystem that pays attention to the halalness of a product, both from materials, manufacturing processes, financing, and various other things.

And to form a halal ecosystem in our society, we must be supported by institutions, companies, institutions, foundations, and organizations, both government and non-government. They all must synergize and work together to optimize various halal products in every aspect.

For example, the government must synergize with Islamic banking to finance MSMEs as producers of halal products. This also applies to various sectors, including the food sector, education, tourism, hospitals, and so on. Of course, this must be monitored by the government (MUI, DSN-MUI) so as not to violate the boundaries of the Shari'a which can damage this ecosystem.

Improving Community Literacy

One of our problems is the low level of Islamic financial literacy. In 2020, it was noted that the Sharia literacy index was only 8.93%. It is certain that this is a very low number, and needs improvement in the future.

Improving the literacy of the halal industry is also a big homework for all of us. There are still many people who think that halal products are only products that do not contain pork or liquor, even though it is not that simple.

In the food sector, for example, many ingredients in modern foods still need to be further examined for their halalness. Maybe it doesn't contain pork, but it could contain imported animal meat that is not slaughtered according to the syar'i.

Things like this must be considered, especially by our country's MSMEs, so that MSMEs can produce quality halal products. Public literacy must also be improved so that public interest in halal products continues to increase. That way, the demand for halal products will continue to increase and can move Indonesia's Sharia economy significantly.

Improving Sharia Financing Facilities

Developing MSMEs, of course, requires substantial financing. And to get that, they need help from various Islamic financial institutions, both banking institutions and non-banks.

To facilitate Sharia financing, we must also maximize Sharia financing facilities. For example in Islamic banking, they support the facilities of Microfinance Institutions (LKM and Sharia People's Business Credit (KUR Syariah).

Currently, we can also maximize various Sharia-based financial technologies (fintech), such as crowdfunding, Sharia P2P lending, and Sharia e-money.

That way, Insya Allah we can maximize the potential of the halal industry that develops the sharia economy in our country.