South Kalimantan Hosts National Halal Fair
The South Kalimantan provincial government, in collaboration with Bank Indonesia, is holding a National Halal Fair as an effort to strengthen the Islamic economic ecosystem. The National Halal Fair is held in conjunction with the Ramadhan Cake Fair in the Siring Nol Kilometer area of Banjarmasin.
Head of the Economic Bureau of the South Kalimantan Provincial Secretariat, Eddy Elminsyah Jaya, on Thursday (26/2), said that the National Halal Fair is a collaboration between the South Kalimantan Provincial Government, Bank Indonesia and the Regional Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance (KDEKS).
“This involves various stakeholders to encourage the growth of Halal MSMEs in Banua. In the National Halal Fair, there are several stands that provide Halal certification for MSMEs, as well as stands from the National Zakat Agency, UIN Antasari, and Islamic banks,” he said.
Through the strengthening of the Halal ecosystem, the local government wants to encourage the competitiveness of MSMEs while also expanding access to financing and Islamic financial literacy. Regarding the Halal certification mechanism, it was explained that MSME actors can directly visit the certification stand.
“The team from the Halal study centre will provide assistance according to the characteristics of the business. If the raw materials are simple, it can be done through a self-declare scheme or independent Halal declaration. For those with diverse raw materials, it can be consulted with officers. For self-declare certification, it is free,” he explained.
The government is targeting as many MSMEs as possible to utilize the service. This Halal certification programme will take place during the Ramadhan Cake Fair event. The number of MSMEs in South Kalimantan is recorded at 509,766 units, consisting of 507,230 micro-enterprises, 2,201 small enterprises, and 335 medium-sized enterprises.
Representative of Bank Indonesia for the South Kalimantan Province, Fikar Fauzan, said that through the National Halal Fair, it is hoped that an Islamic economic ecosystem that is more inclusive, integrated, and has a direct impact on increasing the capacity and legality of MSMEs will be created.
The National Halal Fair involves the local government, Islamic banks such as Bank Kalsel Syariah and Bank Syariah Indonesia, as well as the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) which brings a number of fostered MSMEs with Halal products and distribution permits.
It is known that the level of Islamic literacy and inclusion in South Kalimantan is still low. The literacy rate is recorded at 43.4% while Islamic inclusion is only 13.4 percent. (E-2)