VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The Indonesian Government is preparing a strategy to address the decline in the country's position among the world's most prominent producers of halal pharmaceutical products, Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has said.

According to The State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2022, the global rank of Indonesia's halal pharmaceutical sector dove to ninth in 2022 from sixth in 2021, he noted.

"We surely need to pay close attention to this decline. We need to identify which countries overtook us, especially in the pharmacy sector, and how they could do so. It is necessary to map them out," Minister Kartasasmita said during the 2023 Indonesia Halal Industry Awards in Jakarta on Monday.

He also informed that he has instructed the head of the ministry's Center for Halal Industry's Empowerment (PPIH) to conduct due diligence.

"We need to carry out due diligence, so we have a benchmark and can launch a 'counter-attack' in the hopes of bringing back our position at least to the top six. Hopefully, in the future, we will ascend to the top five," he said.

The minister cited the report's findings that in terms of the halal food sector, Indonesia rose to second place in 2022 from the fourth position in 2021.

In the modest fashion sector, Indonesia remained in the third position during the 2021–2022 period, he noted.

However, in terms of the Islamic economy indicator, Indonesia still ranked fourth in the world during the period, the minister pointed out.

"Personally, I am not satisfied with (Indonesia) being in fourth place," he said.

He further said he expects that all relevant stakeholders will strengthen their collaboration and synergy to create an ecosystem that supports the growth of the national halal industry.

Indonesia is aiming to become the world's center for halal industry by achieving the target of certifying as many as 10 million products as halal by next year, he added. (Antaranews)