VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Jakarta: Sharia banks are identical to the real and labour-intensive sector. Adiwarman Azwar Karim, Deputy Commissioner of Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) in an interview with Voice of Indonesia on the Mutiara Ramadhan program which aired on March 21 2024 outlined the strategy of the largest Sharia Bank in Indonesia to develop the real sector and grow MSMEs in Indonesia.

First, Adimarwan A. Karim, who is also the founder of Karim Consulting, stated that Bank Syariah Indonesia has a relatively larger portfolio in consumer services and small business financing compared to Sharia Banks in neighboring countries.

"If we compare it with the neighboring country of Malaysia, the majority of sharia bank customers in Malaysia serve large corporations, which is quite different from that in Indonesia. At BSI, for example, almost 50% of us serve consumers, namely the needs of the general public, those who want to buy a car, buy a house, and fulfil their needs using sharia methods. "Then the other 50 percent is a combination of small businesses and corporations," said Adiwarman to Voice of Indonesia.

Second, regarding the MSME development strategy, Adiwarman emphasized the importance of business ecosystem-based financing.

“We must develop small businesses in an ecosystem. By developing it in an ecosystem, the cash to cash flow becomes closed loop, we know where the money flows (circulates). Creating an ecosystem, this is the small business that we are now working on, namely small businesses that are in one ecosystem. In fact, small businesses that are sporadic in nature, which are not yet connected in an ecosystem according to banking experience, are businesses with quite large risks, so there are other ways to develop these sporadic businesses. But for small businesses that are in the ecosystem, insha Allah, we can serve them very well." Adiwarman continued

Third, Adiwarman reminded business actors that it is important to pay attention to actual demand to maintain the continuity and success of their business.

"In all the case studies that we learn about the successful startups in building their ecosystems, the first is that they must be based on actual demand, the demand is real in society. We look at several startups that have now become extraordinary successes. There was already a request for that, even before they existed, people were already riding motorbike taxis at the base. There is actual demand, which we then organize into a good ecosystem," said Adiwarman A Karim.

The development of the halal industry, as stated by Adiwarman A Karim, needs to be done using an ecosystem approach.

"Then developing the halal economy, we also map the ecosystem. For example, if the Hajj ecosystem starts from buses, transportation, airplanes, hotels, food, and we combine all of that into one ecosystem, then we develop that ecosystem. We can't just pay for the Umrah and Hajj travel, for example, because if we don't use the ecosystem approach it will collapse. Likewise, for example, for cosmetics, we also cannot only finance halal cosmetic companies without building the ecosystem. Because the risks are greater without an ecosystem. This is actually what we do.” concluded the ustadz who is also an alumnus of Boston University.

Fourth, Adiwarman emphasized the importance of focus and priority scale in developing a well-mapped business ecosystem.

“The mistake that often occurs is that we are too enthusiastic about developing various ecosystems simultaneously, so that in the end we don't focus. So what we actually have to do is after we have mapped the existing ecosystem, then we choose one as the quick win and then we enlarge that ecosystem. We then replicate the success to generate other ecosystems," concluded Adiwarman A. Karim. (Daniel)