Vice President Ma'ruf Amin Says MSMEs Are The Key To Accelerating The Islamic Economy: We Are Developing Seriously

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Vice President (Vice President) Ma'ruf Amin said efforts to maximize the contribution of the sharia economy in the business sector, especially the halal industry MSMEs are very crucial in achieving national economic strengthening after the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to him, the expansion and development of the sharia business sector is one of the four focuses of sharia economic development with MSMEs as the main players.

"Therefore, MSMEs are the key in accelerating Indonesia's sharia economy which must be seriously considered, maintained and developed by all of us. For this reason, strong synergy and collaboration are needed to accelerate the development of MSMEs in the halal industry," he said during the Kick-off for the Synergy to Accelerate the Development of Halal MSMEs which was broadcast virtually, Wednesday, August 25.

On the same occasion, Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki said strengthening the halal industry MSMEs would make Indonesia Resilient, Indonesia Growing, because the halal industry became a new source of national economic growth.

"Digital-based Halal industry SMEs are in line with our program, namely digital transformation with an ecosystem approach that is supported by various stakeholders," he said.

Similarly, the Expert Staff of the Minister of Finance Halim for Sharia Finance, Alamsyah, revealed that the MSME sector will be one of the first and most vulnerable sectors to be affected by restrictions on human activity in economic transactions, especially in the current pandemic era.

"Therefore, the government provides financing programs to MSMEs, including through the National Economic Recovery (PEN) program, Sharia People's Business Credit (KUR)," he said.

In addition, in the 2022 RAPBN it is stated that MSMEs are part of the social protection program to strengthen the foundation of community welfare and alleviate poverty.

"This is done through strengthening the leverage of MSMEs and the business world to be able to bounce back and be resilient," he said.

To note, data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs states that the number of MSMEs currently reaches 64.2 million with a contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) of 61.07 percent or Rp. 8,573.89 trillion.

The contribution of MSMEs to the Indonesian economy includes the ability to absorb 97 percent of the total workforce and can collect up to 60.4 percent of the total investment.