The Central Leadership Council of the Association of Indonesian Islamic Economic Experts (DPP IAEI) held the 2nd edition of the IAEI Strategic Internal Workshop (SINERGI) program with the theme "Indonesia's Priority Programs Towards the Center for the World Halal Product Industry," on Friday (11/02) virtually via the Zoom Meeting platform. Wempi Saputra as Deputy Secretary General II of IAEI who is also Head of the KNEKS Secretariat was the speaker and Safri Haliding led the discussion as moderator.
The global halal industry in the last five years has shown positive development even though it contracted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The halal food and Muslim fashion sectors have the largest share of expenditure with an average of more than 74% among all sectors. Based on the State of Global Islamic Economy Report (SGIE) 2020/2021, the potential for the global halal market is growing along with the increase in demand for halal products. This is in line with the increase in the global Muslim population which reached 1.9 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow twice as fast as the world population as a whole.
In accordance with the direction of the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, the vision for developing the Indonesian halal industry is not only to fill the huge domestic needs, but also to expand its role in global halal product trade.
Synergy is the key word. Regarding the development of the halal industry, too many plans have been prepared by ministries and institutions, but synergy or implementation is a necessity and a requirement for Indonesia to become a leading halal industry.
"We can't work as usual, we have to be extraordinary, even if necessary 24/7 with strong synergy. Because we have a lot of homework to do in developing this sharia economy. "Enthusiasm and knowledge alone are not enough, collaboration is needed with stakeholders and various groups." Said Dr. Wempi Saputra, M.P.F., Deputy Secretary General II IAEI/ Head of KNEKS Secretariat.
