VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. Digitization can play an important role in developing sharia economy and finance in Indonesia because it could arrest a decline in the sale of halal products, boost certification of such products, and enable social fund transactions, Vice President Ma’ruf Amin.

"Digitization can play a significant role in, among other things, holding the pace of the decline in the sales of halal industrial products, accelerating online audit mechanisms in applying for halal certificates, and encouraging an increase in the value of sharia (economy),” Amin said.

As mentioned in the framework set by the National Committee for Sharia Economy and Finance (KNEKS), opportunities and challenges in the digitization of the sharia economy are focused on four areas, he said at a webinar on sharia economy organized by Diponegoro University (Undip), Semarang, Central Java on Wednesday.

"(They are) halal industry, use of big data, artificial intelligence, and block chain in supporting the development of the halal industry from upstream to downstream levels as a new source of growth for the Indonesian economy,” he elaborated.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, digitization has played a crucial role, particularly in online transactions, he noted.

"During 2020, payments for halal products in the e-commerce marketplace were mostly made up of electronic money and bank transfers, which respectively reached 42.10 percent and 23.08 of the market share," he disclosed.

By March 2021, the number of digital financial transactions in the banking industry in Indonesia reached 553.5 million, up 42.47 percent from the same period last year. Meanwhile, the value of transactions also rose 26.44 percent year on year to Rp3.025 trillion. (Antaranews)