Vice President Implores East Java to Support and Promote Region’s Halal Industry

JAKARTA – As the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, the government is determined to make Indonesia a global halal hub.

One of the ways to achieve this by developing halal-specific industrial zones throughout Indonesia, such as the SAFE and LOCK Halal Industrial Park (HIP) constructed by the Industry Ministry (Kemenperin) in Sidoarjo, East Java.

Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin voiced his hopes that the East Java regional government would soon fill out the industrial zone with many halal product factories and producers and provide them with all the facilities that they need to ensure smooth production.

This includes a proper halal inspection facility, complete with certified supervisors, product laboratories, water treatment facilities, Syariah finance services, and more.

According to vice-president Ma’ruf, East Java possesses great industrial competitiveness potential due to the quality of workers in the region, abundant natural resources, adequate road infrastructure and proper port and airport facilities.

Because of this, the East Java regional government is expected to take full advantage of these factors by actively promoting the Sidoarjo halal industrial zone and provide investors with whatever they need to effectively operate.

“For the East Java government, and also the operators of the halal industrial zone, I hope that they will do a great job promoting and inviting businesses to operate from this halal zone so that it can open for business and create jobs as soon as possible,” the Vice-President said through a written statement on Wednesday (3/3).

Vice-President Ma’ruf also added that the East Java government should build an integrated, codified Management Information System (MIS) that can integrate halal certification data with trade data so that the statistics and data of the halal zone can be managed well.

“To do this, they must begin by building traceability programs and start utilizing raw materials sourced from local agriculture businesses, livestock centers, fisheries and marine-based businesses, and process them into products that are fit for public consumption,” he pressed.

Prospective businesses looking to operate in the zone will be asked to treat and promote their halal certification as a plus point of their business operations and their products in order to drive up a competitiveness that is able to drive up Indonesia’s halal export value.

Meanwhile, the East Java government’s Head of Industry and Trade Activities Drajat Irawan said that the potential of East Java’s industries can be improved and fulfilled through halal certification for its leading food & beverage, textiles and cosmetics sectors.

According to data from the Industry Ministry (Kemenperin), East Java’s total food & beverage exports to 10 major Muslim markets in the world as of October 2020 reached US$252.14 million, or 17.31% of all East Java’s food & beverage imports.

“It turns out a majority of our exports to Muslim countries is dominated by our food and beverage industry. That is why its important to keep pushing our products to these markets to fulfill their export needs and make us more preferred from exports by countries such as Brazil and Australia,” Drajat explained.