Indonesia encourages D-8 to become a new force in the global halal economy through HEI 2026

Dok. Halal Expo. (Source: halalexpoindonesia.com)

JAKARTA - Indonesia encourages the Developing 8 Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8) cooperation group to become a new force in the global halal economy through the 2026 Halal Expo Indonesia (HEI) event.

The event, which was held as part of the D-8 Indonesian Presidency for the period 2026-2027, was held at the Senayan Tennis Indoor Stadium, Jakarta on July 8-12, 2026.

The opening was carried out jointly by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Anis Matta, Head of the Halal Product Assurance Organizing Agency (BPJPH) Ahmad Haikal Hasan, Executive Director of the National Committee for Islamic Economic and Finance (KNEKS) Sholahudi Al Aiyub, Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Anindya Bakrie, and the Ambassador of the D-8 member countries in Jakarta.

Carrying the theme "Strengthening D-8 Halal Economy Through International Collaboration", D-8 HEI 2026 will be a key platform for business actors, industries, investors, and policymakers to strengthen the D-8 halal value chain and open wider access to global markets.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Anis Matta explained that the implementation of the D-8 HEI is a concrete step by the government to encourage national economic growth by strengthening Indonesia's economic integration with the Islamic world.

"In the midst of various global economic challenges, Indonesia continues to encourage national economic growth. One way is to strengthen Indonesia's economic integration with the Islamic world, including through the development of the halal economy," explained Foreign Minister Anis, launching the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wednesday (8/7).

Meanwhile, D-8 Secretary General Sohail Mahmood expressed his appreciation to Indonesia for holding the first D-8 Halal Expo in Jakarta.

Hopefully, the D-8 Halal Expo will be a catalyst for networking and cooperation between the private sector, intra-D-8 trade and investment, strengthening research and capacity building, and expanding cooperation in the halal economic ecosystem.

D-8 HEI 2026 is expected to strengthen economic partnerships and encourage the expansion of business-to-business cooperation in various sectors, including food and beverages, beauty, fashion, medicine, tourism, finance, and digital services. This effort is in line with the target of increasing trade between D-8 countries to 500 billion US dollars by 2030.

During the five-day activity, the D-8 HEI will showcase trade exhibitions, business matching, and D-8 HEI Talks panel discussions featuring government officials, business actors and investors from D-8 countries. This activity has attracted high enthusiasm from exhibitors, buyers and visitors from D-8 member countries as well as several other countries such as the Netherlands, Djibouti, India, Palestine, France, Uzbekistan, and Jordan.

The D-8 HEI was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with KNEKS, BPJPH and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as a manifestation of President Prabowo Subianto's statement at the 11th D-8 Summit in Cairo, December 19, 2024 which emphasized the importance of establishing a halal value chain through strengthening the halal economic network and Indonesia's commitment to become one of the world's main halal economic hubs.

The Executive Director of KNEKS emphasized that the D-8 Halal Expo was designed as a platform to generate concrete business collaborations, one of which was with match making that brought together exporters and importers.

"Indonesia is trying to facilitate the birth of business partnerships, exchange of knowledge, and concrete trade transactions," said the Executive Director of KNEKS.

It is known that D-8, which was formed in 1997, aims to strengthen economic and development cooperation among member countries, which consist of Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran, Malaysia, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey. Last year, Azerbaijan joined as a member.

This economic cooperation forum has a great collective strength with a total population of around 1.3 billion people or 16 percent of the world's population, as well as a combined gross domestic product of around 5.1 trillion US dollars.

In addition to strengthening trade, D-8 cooperation is also directed at strengthening the halal ecosystem through cross-border investment, industrial cooperation, and innovation so that halal products and services are increasingly integrated into the global value chain.

Before this year's chairmanship, Indonesia had previously been the D-8 Chair for the period 2006-2008, which produced the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement (D-8 PTA).