BPJPH: Indonesia to bring halal fashion to the world

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

In addition to targeting the food and beverage industry sector whose halal certification obligations will be enforced in October 2024, collaborative efforts to strengthen the ecosystem have also begun to expand to consumer goods such as clothing or fashion, which are required to be halal certified in October 2026.

In that context, BPJPH is now making strategic efforts by initiating Indonesia Global Halal Fashion or IGHF.

"IGHF is more than just promoting Indonesian halal fashion products to the world market. More than it, IGHF wants to prove that our halal products are able to compete in terms of quality in the world," said Muhammad Aqil Irham, chairman of BPJPH, in Jakarta. 

"IGHF, which we have launched on March 28 2024 at the Indonesia Fashion Week, is something new. It is a forum for our collaboration in encouraging the development of the halal fashion industry ecosystem, which is an important step to make Indonesia the center of world halal fashion." 

To become number one in the world in the halal fashion sector, Aqil said that Indonesia must strengthen the development of the domestic halal fashion product ecosystem comprehensively from upstream to downstream, from materials to consumer products. For this reason, innovation is needed to strengthen the halal fabric industry to build the halal value chain of the fashion industry. Meanwhile, the promotion of halal fashion is carried out through IGHF's participation in a series of international fashion events in a number of big cities in different countries, including London, Milan and Paris.

"We see that halal fashion products are not just a matter of administrative halal certification. ⁠Halal fabric as a material can be a differentiator, which is an added value, and increases the competitiveness of products in the global market." he continued.

Furthermore, Aqil said that by carrying out IGHF together with a number of stakeholders, BPJPH is moving forward to prove that the government is present to facilitate businesses in Indonesia so that halal-certified fashion products have competitiveness and advantages not only for domestic but also for world consumers.

"The IGHF road-participation that has started from Jakarta, Malaysia and then will be in London, Milan and Paris, is not just a fashion show. We are also exploring the global market, and bringing together producers and buyers of the textile and fashion industries," added Aqil.

Chairperson of the Indonesian Fashion Entrepreneurs and Designers Association (APPMI), Poppy Dharsono, said that the vision of IGHF is not only relevant to the potential of the fashion industry in Indonesia, but also in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) program.

"We really appreciate BPJPH who has been very appropriate in overseeing this collaboration (IGHF) for a very good purpose for the development of halal fashion in Indonesia. This is very relevant to eco-conscious fabric in the development of sustainable fashion which seeks to restore the environmental ecosystem to be balanced with fashion trends, so that it does not have a negative impact on the environment," Poppy explained.

"This is in line with the SDGs set by the United Nations (UN) to achieve sustainable development at the global level to better meet the challenges of the world's future." 

Meanwhile, in terms of potential, Poppy also sees that entrepreneurs and fashion designers in the country have great potential to develop and compete on the global stage.

Additionally, potential for the world fashion market is great, which is not only targeting Muslims that currently number 1.9 billion worldwide, but halal fashion has also dynamically become a concern for the people around the world.

"Our next participation in three fashion countries, UK, Italy and France, is an important step so that our fashion can enter the Middle East market and also to countries with Muslim majority populations, such as OIC states," adds Poppy.

"Indonesia is the biggest Moslem society in the world, so we have to be number one in the world in halal fashion. Moreover, we know that halal fashion is related to sustainability development which is currently trending in the world," she concluded.