Striking Investor Interest, Children Make Sri Mulyani Expose RI's Sharia Economic Potential At Dubai Expo 2020

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Finance)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) held a seminar entitled Economic Development and Indonesian Sharia Finance at the Dubai Expo 2020 as part of efforts to attract foreign investors to invest and open opportunities for cooperation with Indonesia.

Expert Staff to the Minister of Finance for Macroeconomics and International Finance, Wempi Saputra, said that Indonesia already has four potential ecosystem groups, namely commercial finance, social finance, the halal industry, and the public community.

“These four clusters support various business fields in the community, from MSMEs to corporations. However, this ecosystem requires support from human resources, research and development, regulation, branding, and digital technology," he said in a press statement quoted on Sunday, December 26.

According to Wempi, Islamic banking in Indonesia contributes to strengthening the stability of the financial system in the country.

"This is a good sign and good potential for the development of an Islamic inclusive economy in Indonesia, that sharia and conventional banking can bring good synergies to advance the national economy and finance in Indonesia," he said.

Then, the human resource side plays an important role in developing the Islamic economy and finance in Indonesia.

"On this occasion, we also want to convey the trust and opportunity to the young generation of Indonesia who are intelligent, creative, and have high potential to succeed in various fields to obtain Islamic economic literature from an early age. From an interest in studying Islamic economics and finance, conducting various research and developments to finally jointly developing a sharia economy in Indonesia and providing a good impact for the world," he explained.

From data released by the Ministry of Finance, it is stated that currently, Indonesia has risen to rank 4 out of 5 in the world for the development of Islamic finance after Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Islamic financial assets in Indonesia are ranked 7th in the world with total assets of 99 billion US dollars.

Indonesia is also a huge economic potential with the number of Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia in 2020 as many as 28,194 and 44.2 percent of them have economic potential.