REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANTUL -- The Department of Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises and Industry, Bantul District, Yogyakarta Province, will facilitate standardization of halal certification for 85 small and medium industries (IKM) in 2018. The local government had been facilitating halal certification for SMEs in Bantul since 2016 and the number increased each year.

"In 2016, 12 IKM were helped, in 2017 15 IKM and in 2018 the target was 85 IKM," said the Head of Cooperatives, SME and Industry of Bantul, Sulistyanto, here on Friday.

Sulistyanto said the Bantul District Government did this to encourage the growth of the food industry. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) economic census in 2016, the food industry grew in Bantul by 11 per cent.

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"Surely this high growth must be balanced with quality because it is related to processed foods and beverages. It is important to attract the buyers," he said.

"The aim is to increase the competitiveness for market expansion," he added.

In fact, some food and beverage products from IKM that had been halal certified from the relevant management institutions could be standardized and introduced in the market, he added.

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