BPJPH Collaborates with Industry and Associations to Develop Ecosystem and Promote Halal Modest Fashion to the World

The Halal Product Assurance Body (BPJPH) of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia continues to strive to encourage the development of the ecosystem of the halal industry.

The development of the halal industry ecosystem is not only in the food and beverage product sector where the implementation of the halal certification obligation will be enforced starting October 2024, but has also begun to penetrate the consumer goods sector such as clothing which is required to be halal certified starting October 2026.

The latest effort, BPJPH collaborates with industry players and fashion associations to work together in an effort to develop and promote halal modest fashion. This effort has begun with the launch of Indonesia Global Halal Fashion (IGHF) at the Indonesia Fashion Week event, at the JCC, Jakarta on March 28, 2024.

The Head of BPJPH, Muhammad Aqil Irham, said that IGHF is intended to encourage the development of modest fashion as one of the strategic steps to make Indonesia as the center of the world modest fashion. Also, to socialize the mandatory halal certification for products that will be implemented starting in October 2026.

The development of modest fashion made from halal materials is also certain to be one of the strengthening of the halal value chain in the national halal ecosystem. Wherefore, halal textiles or fabrics are needed as raw materials for fashion produced by Indonesian designers. Halal fashion products made by the hands of the Indonesian designers are then targeted to penetrate export markets which are considered key to strengthening the existence of Indonesian modest fashion in global market, such as exports to OIC countries, the Middle East and Europe.

According to him, this potential must be optimised seriously. Currently, Indonesia is in third place in the world according to The Global Islamic Economy Indicator (GIEI) in the SGIE Report 2023 released by DinarStandard. Indonesia maintains its second position in the halal food industry and maintains its third position in the modest fashion, left behind Turkey and Malaysia.

"To become the number one in the world modest fashion, we must strengthen the development of the ecosystem of the domestic halal fashion product comprehensively. For this, we carry out innovations such as the halal fabric industry, with the aim of building a halal value chain in the modest fashion industry from upstream to downstream," told the Head of BPJPH, Muhammad Aqil Irham, after the Technical Meeting ahead of the IGHF 2024 Roadshow, Friday (7/25/2024).

In this case, the halal ecosystem must also involve the industrial sector widely. In addition to strengthening the industry through investment development and maintaining the alignment of the modest fashion industry with aspects of the green industry and its sustainability, the development of our modest fashion industry ecosystem must also be accompanied by efforts to continue to intensify the promotion of Indonesian modest fashion products to the world market.

"We are grateful that the preparation of the IGHF 2024 roadshow today was attended by the CEO of DinarStandard, Mr. Rafiuddin Shikoh. Thank you for your valuable time, for the hard work, and all colleagues in assessing many countries in SGIE. On this occasion, we would also like to know your insight on the indicators that influence the SGIE score, especially in the modest fashion sector." Aqil said.

Responding to this, the CEO of DinardStandard, Rafiuddin Shikoh, expressed his appreciation for the BPJPH initiative together with the ecosystem of Indonesian fashion industry and association to take important steps together through the IGHF program to a number of countries.

"I also appreciate Doctor Aqil's leadership not only in Indonesia but also in building new standards and benchmarks in the global halal lifestyle market in the world." Rafiuddin said.

As a productive effort in the modest fashion industry sector, Rafiuddin also hopes that IGHF will not only bring economic benefits to the Indonesian people, but also contribute to the world. Bringing the good values of halal and modest to the world. He sees the halal industry as not only about business and economics, but also related to ethical values, sustainability, modesty, which have also been noticed by many people in the world.

*Wide Open Opportunities for Indonesian Halal Fashion*

Furthermore, Rafiuddin said that the Indonesian modest fashion sector has the strength that supports the development of its industry. However, it is also faced with a number of challenges as well as opportunities. He sees Indonesia as having a strength that starts from a strong government commitment, and is supported by entrepreneurship, a large domestic market, innovation, and fashion show activities such as fashion week events, road shows, and so on.

"I think this is a special effort for Indonesia, and I think no other country is doing all of these things. So, I congratulate you and I think this is something that must be built." Rafiuddin said.

In addition to these strengths, he explained that the Indonesian modest fashion industry faced with a number of challenges. For example, how Indonesian fashion improves its overall quality and standards. In this case, Indonesian brands are required to have the quality and standards expected by buyers and investors. In addition, there needs to be an effort to internationalize products. The IGHF roadshow, in this case, is a very good step. However, he reminded that more internationalization activities for Indonesian modest fashion products should be carried out, which also target investor involvement by showing the business value of the investment market in this modest fashion sector. Moreover, the global market opportunities for Indonesian modest fashion products are still wide open.

Based on the 2023 SGIE Report, in terms of the export value of fashion products to OIC countries, Indonesia is ranked 9th, as left behind China, Turkey, India, Italy, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Spain, and France. Meanwhile, as an importer of fashion products among OIC countries, Indonesia is ranked 7th, below the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and Iraq.

"Increasing exports to OIC countries is the main source of economic growth for OIC countries. Exports from OIC are worth USD 122.7 billion, while imports to OIC are worth USD 37.1 billion. Indonesia is also one of the top importing countries, so it has a significant domestic market." Rafiuddin added.

"Indonesia is ranked 3rd in all GIE indicators. I will tell you all, that is a significant improvement from ten years ago when we started the ranking when Indonesia was not even in the top seven of the global SGI rankings. In fact, Indonesia is the fastest growing country in terms of ranking improvement, and now only behind Malaysia and Saudi Arabia." Rafiuddin continued.

"When we look at the Modest Fashion sector, Indonesia is very strong here, only behind Turkey and Malaysia. And in our report, we detail how we rank each sector including modest fashion." he explained.

The ranking in the modest fashion sector is influenced by at least four important factors. First, the volume of exports of modest fashion products to OIC countries. Second, related to social impact, including labor income in the fashion industry. Third, the role of the media, namely how much media activity and international or domestic modest fashion promotion activities from Indonesia have an impact. And fourth, Innovation, namely how the technology and innovation ecosystem supports the strengthening of the modest fashion industry in Indonesia.

There are also areas of opportunity that can be targeted by Indonesian modest fashion products. The vision of making Indonesian brands as competitive and as top fashion brands in OIC countries. How many Indonesian brands have penetrated the market in OIC countries. One of the big opportunities is the fact that the largest number of hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia come annually from Indonesia. This is a pattern of connectivity between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia that supports the optimization of the large consumer market in terms of importing Indonesian modest fashion products to enter the market in Saudi Arabia. In addition, investment and industry collaboration must also be developed. Other efforts are the utilization of global e-commerce, and improving product quality or standards, and internationalizing innovation through patents and promotions. No less important, collaboration with global Muslim fashion brands.

*Indonesia Global Halal Fashion Will Be Present in 5 Countries: Promotion Mission and Innovation Development*

One of the efforts that will be made soon is to promote Indonesian modest fashion produced by Indonesian designers to actively participate in various famous fashion events in several countries. The IGHF Roadshow will be attended by around ten famous Indonesian designers. Each designer will promote Halal Woven Fabrics produced through a production process with various techniques, such as: Batik, Ikat, Ulos, Lurik Songket, and Ecoprint.

To conduct this IGHF roadshow, BPJPH collaborates with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. The collaboration also involves KainHalal which has innovated in pioneering the halal-certified fabric industry owned by Fitriani Kuroda. IGHF also involves the active role of Poppy Dharsono who has been the President of Indonesia Fashion Week for the past 30 years, and also the Chairperson of the Indonesian Designer Association.

"Collaboratively, we will conduct a roadshow to participate in fashion events in five countries. The goal is to introduce halal modest fashion by Indonesian designers who carry the characteristics and uniqueness of the textiles that are full of Indonesian cultural values such as weaving, songket, batik and so on." Aqil continued explaining.

The IGHF roadshow will begin at the Islamic Fashion Festival or IFF Malaysia on August 5-6, 2024. Then the roadshow will continue at the House of Icons Fashion Week London on September 13-14, 2024. In London, in addition to the show, all designers will hold an exhibition and this is the 3rd largest fashion show event in London at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London. In London, in addition to the show, all designers will hold an exhibition and this is the 3rd largest fashion show event in London, taking place at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London.

Then, at Milan City Fashion Week which will be held at the historic Chiostry building in Barnaba on September 18-19, 2024 and Paris City Fashion Week on September 27-28 at the Paris Westin Vandome Hotel. The fifth destination of the IGHF roadshow is the World Halal Expo in Istanbul, Turkey, which will be held in November 2024.

*Regulatory and Standards Support for the Indonesian Modest Fashion Ecosystem*

Modest fashion is an industrial sector of which the halal status is very important in Indonesia. The Law Number 33 of 2014 concerning Halal Product Assurance includes clothing products that are required to be halal certified. The law stipulates that the types of products that must be halal certified are goods and services. The goods are food products, beverages, medicines, cosmetics, chemical products, biological products, genetically engineered products, and goods that are worn, used, or utilized by the public.

"We are the only country where halal is a mandatory standard and is regulated by state law. In addition to providing protection for the halal assurance of products for the Indonesian people, who are the largest Muslim in the world, the purpose of the law is to make halal standards on products as an added economic value for business actors in producing and trading their products, including halal modest fashion." Aqil explained.

Furthermore, Aqil also said that Halal Product Assurance in Indonesia adheres to the principle of traceability, where halalness must be traced starting from the use of ingredients, production process, even to serving, and the products are ready for consumption. From farm to fork.

"With halal traceability, we build a halal ecosystem that ensures the use of ingredients and the entire production process must meet halal criteria and also be safe, so that halal and thayyib become one standard." continued Aqil.

In addition, halal regulations in Indonesia also provide flexibility for movement of the development of the halal industry ecosystem. The Laws, the Government Regulations, and the derivative regulations that regulate halal product certification also provide for the participation of various stakeholders in the implementation of halal certification service, as well as in the development of the halal industry ecosystem.

Halal certification carried out by BPJPH has a business process that involves collaboration between a number of service actors: the Halal Inspection Agencies (LPH), the Halal Product Process Assistance Institution (LP3H) for micro and small enterprises (MSEs), the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the facilitator institutions to provide halal certification facilities for MSEs, the Halal Product Assurance Training Institutes, and so on. BPJPH is also connected with universities, associations, halal research institutions, and so on, to optimize their respective roles in organizing Halal Product Assurance.

"The large ecosystem for organizing Halal Product Assurance in Indonesia certainly provides great benefits for Indonesia in realizing a strong and productive halal ecosystem," said Aqil.

Moreover, Aqil added that Indonesia's halal ecosystem also continues to be strengthened by various synergies and collaborations between various stakeholders which are expanded and strengthened from time to time.

"We are doing various synergies and collaborations across stakeholders in building and strengthening this halal ecosystem to realize Indonesia's vision as initiated by President Joko Widodo, to make Indonesia the center of the largest halal product producers in the world, as well as the central of the world's fashion." he concluded.