Halal Industry Has Developed But Vice President Ma'ruf Amin Is Not Satisfied Because Raw Materials Must Be Imported

JAKARTA - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin regrets that raw materials for the development of the halal industry in Indonesia are still imported. In fact, the pace of halal industry business in Indonesia has begun to develop.

"But I regret that the raw materials, the upstream, are still imported. This is a challenge for the government how to encourage the birth of the upstream cosmetics industry," said Vice President Ma'ruf Amin at the location of PT Paragon Technology and Innovation in the Jatake Industrial Estate, Tangerang, Banten, Antara, Wednesday, December 29.

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin conveyed this when he visited the implementation of the halal industry at PT Paragon as a halal cosmetic producer with the Wardah, Make Over, Emina, Kahf, Putri, and LABORE brands and won an award at the 2021 Indonesia Halal Industry Award (IHYA) event.

"There are a lot of raw materials, but how to encourage the upstream industry is our challenge that must be prepared here, that's the challenge going forward," added the Vice President.

According to the Vice President, the business model carried out by PT Paragon Technology and Innovation by combining halal products with innovation can be an example for other Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (UMKM) business models.

"How can PT Paragon Innovation become a model for MSMEs that MSMEs can become big but by innovating not only market-oriented but also research-oriented," said the Vice President.

The vice president also said that currently, the government is encouraging the birth of halal industries, both in industrial areas and outside industrial areas.

"As well as improving the catalog (halal products) because actually the export of halal products is large but many are not codified, for example, Wardah itself in some countries has the term 'reseller' who is not registered as halal exports," added the Vice President.

So, even though halal products are exported by industries from Indonesia, because they are not included in the halal product export catalog, the product is not listed as a halal product.

"But exports are not included in the catalog, therefore one of the things to fix is the catalog so that all export products are recorded as halal products, apart from accelerating halal certification. In some areas, certification services are made easier and for MSMEs there are no fees. These are some policies," said the vice president.

Based on the Institute for the Study of Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (LPPOM) of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the number of cosmetic companies that have carried out halal certification is 794 companies, with 1.913 halal certificates, and 75.385 halal-certified cosmetic products since 2017.

"I think halal (products) have now become a global trend and have even become a lifestyle because all countries are competing even though the population is not a Muslim majority. So far, the largest halal-producing industries are countries such as Brazil, Australia, and other countries. including China," explained the vice president.

The Vice President also hopes that business models such as PT Paragon can be imitated by other MSMEs so that more halal industries will emerge in Indonesia.

Previously, President Joko Widodo targeted Indonesia to become the center of the world's halal industry by 2024.

Based on the report of The State of Global Islamic 2020-2021, the spending of the world's Muslims reaches more than 2 trillion US dollars, including for food products, fashion, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, to the recreation or tourism sector.

Based on data from the Ministry of Trade, Indonesia's halal product exports currently reach USD 6 billion or are ranked 21st in the world as an exporter of halal products. As for the halal fashion sector, Indonesia is able to export with a value of USD 4.1 billion, which is ranked in the top 13 in the world.

At the PT Paragon location, the Vice President had a dialogue with ParagonCorp CEO Harman Subakat and other company officials. Furthermore, the Vice President reviewed the implementation of halal innovations in the Cosmetics Industry in the Laboratory Room and at the Product Product Museum.

Accompanying the working visit Acting Head of the Secretariat of the Vice President Ahmad Erani Yustika, Special Staff for the Vice President for Communication and Information Masduki Baidlowi, Special Staff for the Vice President Bambang Widianto, Special Staff for the Vice President for Economics and Finance Lukmanul Hakim, Special Staff for the Vice President for Political and Institutional Relations and the Expert Team for Vice President Iggi Haruman Achsien.