Halal Certification To Improve Competitiveness For MSME Products

Halal Certification To Improve Competitiveness For MSME Products (Special)

TARAKAN - The government continues to invite the Indonesian people to love and be proud of the work of their own children. As many as 30 million MSME players are targeted by the government to enter the digital ecosystem.

A proactive strategy is needed to encourage MSME players to produce quality and competitive products. One of the important things to do is to include halal certificates on MSME products to increase consumer confidence.

Education and understanding of halal certification, including exporting or going global, is important for MSME actors.

Director of Information and Communication of the Economy and Maritime Affairs of the Ministry of Communication and Information, Septriana Tangkary explained that since the launch of Gernas BBI on May 14, 2020 by President Jokowi, this activity has shown considerable progress. Gernas BBI itself aims to support MSMEs during the pandemic and encourages people to feel proud and buy local products.

"Kominfo always provides support in the field of telecommunications and media handling for the success of Gernas BBI and assistance support for the creation of NIB (Business Identification Number) and forum for the socialization of halal certification," said Septriana.

Halal issues are also a very sensitive issue in Indonesia, related to market demand for global halal products, which is also very large and tends to increase. The Expert Staff of the Minister of Communication and Information for Social, Economic and Cultural Affairs, R. Wijaya Kusumawardhana emphasized that halal certification is so important.

The reason is, Indonesia is the country with the highest Muslim population in the world. Wijaya quoted from the report of The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center (RISCC) in 2023, that as many as 237.6 million people in Indonesia who are Muslim. Thus, Indonesia's prospects for developing halal tourism have been recognized by the world.

MSMEs must be able to be at the forefront of taking advantage of opportunities from halal tourism because it has become a promising market. The journey of global Muslim tourists continues to increase along with the increasing spending value," explained Wijaya.