An economist now serving as Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of\nthe Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS), Anggito Abimanyu, has\nemphasised that various halal-certified products from the United States\nentering Indonesia will no longer be required to undergo halal testing\nin the country.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Jagongan Navigation Economics Symposium on Sharia\n(In)Efficiency and (In)Compliance with Sharia Principles held by ISEI\nYogyakarta at GIK UGM on Saturday (28 February), Anggito explained that\nIndonesia and the United States have signed the Reciprocal Trade\nAgreement, which was signed by President Prabowo Subianto and President\nDonald Trump.<\/p>\n
This agreement has the potential to eliminate halal certification\nrequirements. Anggito stressed that this only applies to imported\nproducts from the United States that have already passed halal testing\nin their country of origin. \u201cThis is not for products that did not\nundergo halal testing in their country of origin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Anggito further stated that halal certification inspection is the\nsame wherever it is conducted, as it uses rules consistent with\nreligious requirements. Therefore, he explained, when a product passes\ntesting in another country, it already complies with the halal standards\napplicable in our country. \u201cIf it then has to undergo halal\ncertification in Indonesia, it will add cost and time,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n
Regarding the national Islamic banking sector, Anggito affirmed that\nthe industry has demonstrated increasingly solid expansion direction and\nis on the right growth trajectory. \u201cAfter being held back at around 5%\nfor quite some time, Islamic banking market share jumped to 9% since\n2022 and has become an important foundation towards the ideal target of\n20%,\u201d Anggito said.<\/p>\n
He noted that in the growth of Islamic banking in Indonesia, two\nIslamic banks serve as the main locomotives of growth: BSN (Bank Syariah\nNasional) and BSI (Bank Syariah Indonesia). Both, he said, have\nsuccessfully strengthened the structure of the national Islamic banking\nindustry.<\/p>\n
BSI was formed through a merger of several state-owned Islamic banks,\nwhilst BSN is a new entity resulting from the spin-off of BTN\u2019s Islamic\nBusiness Unit combined with Bank Victoria Syariah.<\/p>\n
This consolidation strategy is considered effective in addressing the\nclassic problems of Islamic banking, namely limited capital in serving\nlarge-scale financing needs. With increased capitalisation, the public\nis deemed no longer hesitant to use Islamic banking services, as their\ncapacity and competitiveness are improving.<\/p>\n
Anggito further stated that Islamic banking growth in Indonesia\ncannot rely solely on market mechanisms, but requires other measures to\naccelerate the increase in service supply. According to him, if relying\nonly on natural market mechanisms, growth will remain slow. He believes\nthat inorganic measures are needed to accelerate the expansion of\nservice supply. \u201cIf left to the market, it won\u2019t be quick. The main\nconstraint is supply,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that Islamic bank capital is relatively small, so its\nservices to the public cannot be large and are only limited. Therefore,\ncorporate actions such as the formation of BSN and the BSI merger become\nimportant and strategic. Another matter, he said, is that the\ndevelopment of Islamic banking business is deemed necessary to be\ndirected at accelerating digital transformation. The limitation of\nphysical branch networks compared to conventional banks makes\ndigitalisation key to expanding service reach whilst reducing financing\ncosts, which have been relatively higher in the past.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/halal-products-from-the-united-states-do-not-require-re-testing-in-indonesia-1772384008", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }