Indonesia Must Be the Center of World Halal Culinary Producers

Jakarta, MINA – Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno, stated that the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy continues to encourage the development of Nusantara culinary in realizing Indonesia as the center of the world’s halal culinary producers.

Seeing the high market demand for halal culinary provisions and being driven by tourism, he stated, it is necessary for superior culinary delights from every region of Indonesia to have a halal certificate.

“Become a producer, don’t just be a consumer, be an agent of change, don’t be lying down,” said Sandiaga in his remarks at the 2022 Halal Food Lifestyle Forum which was held by the National Committee for Sharia Economics and Finance (KNEKS) on a hybrid basis on Thursday.

According to him, the Muslim population in 2030 will be 23 percent of the world’s population, this is a very potential target market and especially demand in the halal culinary industry sector.

Meanwhil, Indonesia is a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, in 2022, the number is around 86.88% of the total population or 236.53 million Muslims are recorded.

“We are not only a market but also a producer. For this reason, we must develop the sharia economic sector and halal products both in the tourism and creative economy, one of which is the sub-sector that contributes the most jobs, namely the halal culinary industry, “he said.

Sandiaga also said that culinary business actors needed a simplification of the certification process, from registration to obtaining halal provisions. He hopes that the national culinary halal certification can be facilitated in the future.

KNEKS Executive Director Ventje Rahardjo hopes that the 2022 Halal Food Lifestyle Forum will be an insight that can be utilized by all actors in the halal food and culinary industry, as well as a catalyst for development programs for the halal food and beverage industry in Indonesia.

“In addition, this event is expected to strengthen collaboration and synergy in efforts to develop the sharia economy and the Indonesian halal industry in the future,” said Ventje in his remarks.

Bahardeen said Indonesian culinary specialties dominate the lifestyle preferences of national halal food. Most of the population thinks that Indonesian food is definitely halal.

“Indonesia has a very rich and diverse cuisine, and the majority are halal,” he concluded.

This event is a follow-up to the report “The Mastercard-CrescentRating Halal Food Lifestyle Indonesia Report 2021” which was developed by KNEKS together with Mastercard and CrescentRating. The main purpose of this forum is to increase public literacy regarding the halal food and culinary lifestyle.

Aside from being a literacy event, this event also aims to outline the diverse landscape of halal food and cuisine in Indonesia, as well as the role of technology and digitalization in changing trends in halal culinary consumer behavior, consumer welfare and environmental protection.

This forum focuses on reviews of policies in the development strategy of the halal culinary industry which are packaged in two panel discussion sessions. Speakers in the discussion panel came from practitioners, business and industry players, influencers, and other stakeholders. (L/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)