President upbeat about Indonesian sharia economy's prospects

Sabtu, 11 Desember 2021 09:09 WIB

A screenshot of President Joko Widodo addressing the second Muslim Economic Congress in Jakarta on Friday (December 10, 2021). ANTARA/Indra Arief

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo has said he is optimistic about the prospects of the Indonesian sharia economy.

“Our sharia economy, which was ranked ninth in 2014, has grown to the fourth largest in the world in 2020-2021,” he noted while opening the second Muslim Economic Congress in Jakarta on Friday.

More than 1,300 participants joined the opening ceremony of the congress, with 250 participating in person and 1,250 others online. Deputy chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Anwar Abbas, also attended the opening ceremony.

“According to my forecast, Insya Allah (God Willing), in the next three to four years, it will be the second or largest (in the world) if it grows as we look at it now,” he said.

The President said he is optimistic about the Indonesian sharia economy increasingly expanding in the next six to seven years thanks to the nation's large Muslim population.

“With the world’s largest Muslim population reaching 87 percent or 207 million of the total population, we have committed ourselves to becoming a hub for sharia economy in 2024, and we will try hard to achieve it,” he remarked.

In addition to the sharia financial industry, the President also touched upon halal industry development.

“We will encourage the development of the sharia financial sector, the development of the sharia social financial sector, and the development of sharia entrepreneurship since we are a country with the largest Muslim population in the world,” he said.

In this regard, Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) will serve not only large customers but also small customers, he added.

“The large, the small, the medium to become large, BSI will serve all of them. BSI is now one of the eight large banks with stronger capital. We hope the large banks will serve the halal industry, halal tourism, and halal products which have a very large market share,” Widodo said.

Moreover, since December 1, 2021, Indonesia has assumed the Presidency of the G20, he added.

“This means that we are the chair of large countries, developed countries, which are in the top twenty list (in terms) of gross domestic product (GDP). We are now ranked 16^th. But as Buya has stated, Insya Allah (God willing), we will be one of the four largest (economies), according to the calculations of McKinsey, the World Bank, and IMF,” he said.

Though Indonesia is predicted to become the world’s fourth-largest economy, the challenge will not be easy, he added.

“The challenge will not be easy. There are some conditions to achieve it since our per capita income in 2040-2045 must be US$23 thousand to US$27 thousand. That is a huge figure,” he remarked.