Indonesia's Biggest Islamic Bank Reveals Obstacle in Developing Halal Ecosystem

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Indonesia's biggest Islamic bank continues to strive in developing halal ecosystem in the midst of a number of challenges. Deputy President Director of Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) Bob Tyasika Ananta said literacy and inclusion of sharia banking is still a challenge for BSI in the effort for developing the halal ecosystem in Indonesia.

Citing the Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK) survey in 2022, Bob said the inclusion of sharia banking is still at 12.12 percent and the literacy of sharia banking at 9.14 percent. This figure is far behind in general banking inclusion and literacy which stands at 85.1 per cent and 49.68 per cent respectively.

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“In addition, there is a mismatch between supply and demand in Islamic finance. On the supply side, there are not many sharia banking services that can be utilized by halal industry players. On the demand side, there are still many halal industry players who do not know about sharia banking products and services,” Bob said in a written statement on Wednesday (26/6/2024).

Meanwhile, the Director of the Department of Sharia Economy and Finance (DEKS) of Bank Indonesia said that BI cannot be alone in developing the sharia economy in Indonesia and needs collaboration with all parties involved in the sharia banking industry. There are at least three halal products that are of concern to BI in developing the halal ecosystem in Indonesia, namely halal food, Muslim-friendly tourism, and halal fashion.

“BI also gives a lot of incentives to prosyary, labor-intensive, and environmentally friendly financing,” he said.

Therefore, BSI International Expo 2024 held by PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk (BSI) became one of the targets to intensify literacy and increase the inclusion of sharia banking and finance. The seminars and talk shows conducted from June 20-23, 2024 at Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), are expected to help people increase knowledge about the sharia ecosystem, from sharia banking, education, and halal products.

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