REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SOLO -- Chairman of Association of Islamic Economic Experts (IAEI) who also served as Minister of National Development Planning (Bappenas), Bambang PS Brodjonegoro, said market share of Islamic finance in Indonesia is still low. 

Last year, the market share of sharia banking only reached 5.3 percent of the total assets of the national banking industry, he explained.

The amount is still far away with the achievements of other countries such as Saudi Arabia which reached 51.1 percent, Malaysia which reached 23.8 percent, and United Arab Emirates which reached 19.6 percent in Islamic finance. Therefore Bambang said the development of Islamic finance in Indonesia should always be encouraged.

 "Because the market share is still low, capacity of Islamic finance in Indonesia still needs to be strengthened to address the challenges of infrastructure development, food security, and energy, as well as the development of manufacturing, maritime, and tourism industries which are priorities of the government," Bambang said when opening Syariah Financial Economics Research Forum (FREKS) XVI at Sebelas Maret University (UNS) Auditorium on Tuesday.

Bambang is optimistic that Indonesia can lead global Islamic financial development. This will be supported by the population of Indonesia who are predominantly Muslim.

Proper development of sharia finance can also attract foreign investment, such as middle east investors, conventional investors, and western investors.

"The government has ambitious development targets, and it needs to be supported consistently for improving welfare. We should not be satisfied with current conditions and we need to immediately strengthen our sharia financial industry," he said.

Indonesia has the most sharia financial institutions in the world. There are 34 Islamic banks, 58 takaful operators or sharia insurance, seven sharia venture capital, sharia pawnshop, and more than 5,000 sharia microfinance.

The number of customers of the Islamic finance has reached 23 million people. Sharia Online Trading System became the latest breakthrough in sharia financial development.

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