Vice President Supports Strengthening Indonesia-Uzbekistan Halal Industry Cooperation

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin held an audience with lawmakers in Uzbekistan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Tuesday (13/6/2023). BETWEEN/HO-BPMI Setwapres

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin welcomed and supported efforts to explore and strengthen the cooperation between the Indonesian halal industry and Uzbekistan.

"I welcome the efforts to explore the potential for wider cooperation, in the framework of strengthening Indonesia-Uzbekistan relations, especially in the halal industry," said the Vice President in an audience with lawmakers in Uzbekistan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, June 13.

The vice president said that in 2022 the trend of trade value between the two countries has increased significantly, amounting to 82 million US dollars.

The Vice President believes that this achievement is due to the active contribution of business actors from the two countries in the forums that are routinely scheduled.

The Vice President emphasized the full commitment of the Indonesian government to make Indonesia the center of world halal producers in 2024, so that the leading sector of the halal industry, such as food, fashion mode, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and halal tourism will continue to be developed.

"The Indonesian government is strongly committed to developing the leading sectors of the halal industry, and targets Indonesia to become the world's leading halal producer in 2024," said the Vice President.

Meanwhile, in the investment sector, the Vice President said that the Indonesian government opens wide opportunities for investors from Uzbekistan who want to invest in Indonesia.

"The government is committed to providing various facilities for investors to invest in Indonesia. In the halal industry, there are regulations that provide convenience for Halal Product Guarantee in Indonesia," he added.

The vice president also hopes that the governments of Indonesia and Uzbekistan will continue to explore potential sectors that can strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

"I hope that all the leading commodities of the Indonesian and Uzbekistan halal industries can continue to be explored and realized in concrete cooperation between entrepreneurs and between governments," said the Vice President.

During the hearing, one of the audience participants from Uzbekistan, namely Sanjay Turdiev from Ziyarah Travel, conveyed the idea to the Vice President regarding the possibility of introducing clerics from Uzbekistan to schools in Indonesia as an effort to increase cooperation in the field of education.

The vice president welcomed the idea and according to the vice president, online meetings became an effective strategy to attract tourism interest, both in Indonesia and Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile, another thing was stated by the CEO of Labzak Biznes Group Iskandar Mirsagatov who was in charge of the import sector for fruit products from Indonesia.

He revealed the issue of licensing for quarantine imports of fruit products from Indonesia and the issue of licensing quarantine permits in the Uzbekistan region.

"Regarding transportation, this is also related to problems for us because of distance constraints, via airplanes, but products do not last long. We want to ask whether it is possible for an Indonesian party to cooperate in the transportation sector?" asked Iskandar.

The Vice President said that the Indonesian government is ready to support these logistical efforts, and based on information obtained from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cooperation is currently being explored in the field of logistics transportation between Indonesia and Uzbekistan.

At the end of this hearing, the Vice President also asked to strengthen the commitment to cooperation between the Indonesian government and Uzbekistan so that it can be closer, especially in the fields of education, trade and logistics transportation.