Tazeen Akhtar from Jakarta
The 10th year anniversary event of “Indonesia Sharia Economic Festival” (ISEF) in collaboration with Halal Expo Indonesia (HEI) is attracting thousands of stake holders including the industry and the customer from inside the country as well as from other parts of the world to Jakarta Convention Center where the Festival is presenting the Halal sector of economy, finance, food and fashion together under one roof from 25 to 29 Oct 2023 offline while it will continue online through Oct to Dec 2023. It is the largest and the most integrated event in Indonesia on the topic. The theme this year is “Accelerating Sharia economy and finance through digitalization for inclusive and sustainable growth.”
Indonesian Vice President and Chairperson of the National Committee of Sharia Economy and Finance (KNEKS) Ma’ruf Amin launched the Indonesian Halal Industry Master Plan (MPIHI) 2023–2029 at the opening of the 2023 Indonesia Sharia Economic Festival (ISEF) on Thursday, Oct. 26.
The master plan is described through a roadmap for the development of the halal industry through the implementation of four main strategies, namely increasing productivity and competitiveness, implementing and strengthening policies and regulations, strengthening finance and infrastructure, and strengthening the halal brand and awareness.
“This will also be supported by 11 key programs and 8 indicators whose progress will be monitored periodically,” Ma’ruf said in a press statement on Thursday.
He said the MPIHI was expected to be a strategic guide in strengthening the halal industry in Indonesia, creating more quality job opportunities, and enhancing the country’s contribution to the global economy. The Festival is bringing various activities for all segments of society including youth, women, children, businessmen, importers exporters, investors, scholars, officials and experts etc. Different colorful activities are included in the sidelines of the festival.
VP expressed hope that there will be strong synergy among all elements to jointly realize the great goal, which is making Indonesia the hub of the world’s halal industry.
The VP also said that MPIHI was established in line with the national development plan contained in the annual Government Work Plan (RKP), the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN), and the National Long-Term Development Plan (RPJPN) in order to help achieve the vision of a Golden Indonesia in 2045.By including the development of the halal industry in the national development plan, it is hoped that Indonesia’s halal industry will grow better and strengthen Indonesia’s position in the global market.
Indonesia is enhancing the public awareness about sharia economic and finance through different activities including the festival and related events. At present 23% of Indonesia customers are using sharia financing. Indonesia is the largest Muslim population country where 88% are followers of Islam, a religion that gives the best solutions to economic empowerment of the citizens and justified management of finances as is evident from the teachings of Islam.
Allah Almighty has explained everything on trade, finance, riba, tax system etc in Holy Quran. One can see the details like in Zakat, Ushar, Khums etc. The last prophet of Allah , Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH) married to a lady (Ummul Momineen Khadijah RA) who was a trader. She handed her trade over to Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH) to take care of. Therefore, the Muslims can find complete and rationale guidance for business, trade, living in the Sunnah of our prophet.
The activities include International Sharia Forum , Domestic Sharia Forum, Indonesia International Modest Fashion Festival (IN2MF), Indonesia International Halal Chef Competition (IN2HCC),Sharia Fair and ISEF Fun Walk. These activities has made the festival maximum participatory as almost all sectors of life have at least one attraction to attend the Festival.
ISEF is an initiative of the Central Bank of Indonesia in partnership with all key stakeholders of Indonesia Islamic Economic and Finance industry to build an international event in Islamic economic and finance industry.The Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK), the National Committee on Islamic Economics and Finance (KNEKS) and the Indonesian Waqf Board (BWI) are also supporting ISEF 2023.
ISEF 2023 presents 793 exhibitors from Indonesia and 20 friendly countries, and features a series of 62 seminar agendas, talk shows and various other events involving 22 ministries/institutions, 37 associations, 1,003 industry players and 46 international partners.ISEF 2023, which has been initiated by Bank Indonesia since 2014, targets at least 40,000 visitors, including buyers and investors from within the country and abroad.
At this year’s event, ISEF in collaboration with Halal Expo Indonesia (HEI) will become the largest Business to Business and Business to Consumer exhibition in Indonesia, with various interesting events such as international conferences, business matchmaking, business forums and other activities.
HEI presents around 120 outlets consisting of business people from within and outside the country, including Malaysia, Cambodia, Belarus, China, India, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, the United States, Jordan, Japan, Turkey and Palestine.
Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI)is also the partner in ISEF this year. TEI was inaugurated on 18 Oct to continue offline till 22 Oct and offline till Dec 2023. A large number of domestic and international partners and potential buyers are visiting TEI where they are communicated about ISEF. Similarly Indonesia Halal Expo is the biggest halal food and beverage industry show that attracts the participants to ISEF as well. This year another distinction is Halal Chef Competition that is the first ever in the world.
ISEF is the largest annual event in Indonesia as a forum to integrate various activities in the sharia economic and financial sector. In its journey, ISEF has evolved from an activity on a national scale to an international scale activity, and since 2019, ISEF has been included in the world’s Sharia Economic event calendar. The 9th ISEF was held October 5–9, 2022 in a hybrid event with the theme “Recover Together Recover Stronger: Optimizing Sharia Economy and Finance For Inclusive Recovery“, resonating with the theme of the G20 Indonesia Presidency.
In 2022, there was a change in ISEF’s mission, which was originally “Integrating thoughts and realizations in the form of real initiatives that have an impact on the national and international economy” to “Integrating the thoughts and efforts of all sharia economic activists in the development of sharia economic to support Indonesia as a center for World Excursion Development”.
In line with the international agenda, in addition to aligning with the blueprint for economic development and sharia finance, the implementation of ISEF 2022 is also divided into 3 main topics, namely economic inclusion, halal and green lifestyle, and digitalization.
As the sole trillion-dollar country in South East Asia and a G-20 member, Indonesia offers substantial development potential for Sharia-based financing and the booming halal industry, which includes food, tourism, fashion and banking.Ranked 14th in area, 4th in population, 16th in GDP, and 28th in exports value with USD 320 billion export value last year, Indonesia is world’s largest Muslim population and a robust and growing middle-income consumer market.
Indonesia in 2022, was ranked 4th among the top global Islamic Economy indicators score. Moreover, it was also ranked 6th in Islamic finance, 2nd in Halal food, 3rd in modest fashion and 9th in Pharma and cosmetic categories.A promising landscape for Islamic Finance and Halal Industry was optimizing Indonesia’s potential towards becoming a developed country” the speaker expressed his optimism in his projection.
ISEF has worked upon the evolutionary themes so far in last 10 years such as , Establishing a solid ground of national and international cooperation on Islamic economic and finance 2015 , Empowering Islamic Economic and Finance for the Prosperity of the Nations 2016 Leading roles in the development of Islamic economic and finance to achieve prosperity of nation 2017 , Fostering inclusive economic growth and improving resiliency through closer collaboration and coordination, Strengthening national economic growth : The creation of Halal value chains and innovative vehicles 2019, Embracing Sharia Economic for A Stronger and Sustainable growth 2020, Mutual empowerment in accelerating sharia economic growth through promoting Halal industries for global prosperity 2021, Magnifying Halal industries through food and fashion markets for economic recovery 2022 and the latest target for 2023 was set as Accelerating Sharia economy and finance through digitalization for inclusive and sustainable growth.
Comparison of Islamic Banks to the Conventional Banking Industry
Though the Islamic financial assets in Indonesia are modest and stood around 11 percent but they are steadily growing and emerging competitive.Indonesia’s Sukuk market shows faster growth compared to the banking sector and it has risen from 6% in 2014 to 15.8 in 2021 and it is the 20% of the global sovereign Sukuk market which aligns with the government’s policy to increase financing through bonds.
Indonesian Modest Fashion Festival concurrent with HEI and ISEF is showcasing 174 fashion designers who are presenting local and international brands within the format of ISEF. More than 57 activities and over 1,100 partners, this ISEF is aligning with Indonesian presidency of ASEAN Summit in this year 2023. Sharia Economic and Finace is getting 8 % share in the country’s banking so far. The organizers of the event are sure that they can attract more customers to sharia with holding such events regularly.
Indonesian government aims to strengthen sharia economy by establishing milestones, focusing on legal aspects, Islamic financial literacy, stakeholder involvement and digital economy. Experts suggest that Indonesia needs to double its efforts to catch up with other countries by improved financial performance, governance and maintain sustainability with creating more awareness and knowledge.Regarding key factors driving Islamic finance development in Indonesia,Unique characteristic of Islamic finance, macroeconomic and structural reforms, financial literacy and consumer satisfaction were among key factors that were driving Islamic Finance Development in Indonesia.
For more information regarding the Indonesia Sharia Economic Festival 2023 : Instagram account @isef.id Website https://isef.co.id/ Topics : economic sharia
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