Indonesia developing Islamic Economic Report as reference for industry development

JAKARTA – Indonesia’s National Committee for Islamic Finance (KNKS) is developing the Indonesia Islamic Economic Report to be used as a reference for the development of the Islamic economy in eight key provinces, Dr. Sutan Emir Hidayat, its Director of Education and Research told Salaam Gateway.

KNKS will finish the work of compiling the report in the third quarter of this year at the earliest, he said.

“Currently, we have around 20-22% of the data collected covering Islamic economy development indicators such as halal tourism, the number of halal-certified companies, regional Islamic finance assets, provinces’ initiatives, programmes for Islamic economy development and so on,” said Dr. Sutan.

The eight provinces are in line with the national Shariah Economy Masterplan (MEKSI 2019-2024) and includes Aceh, West Sumatra, West Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, West Nusa Tenggara, South Borneo, and South Sulawesi.

“We are focusing to develop the Islamic economy in these provinces because it will be easier to develop these Muslim-majority provinces,” said Dr. Sutan.

KNKS’ dedicated research team for the report works in collaboration with senior students from the committee’s partner universities to collect data in the field as well as secondary data, said Dr. Sutan.

The work of data collection will take some time, according to Dr. Sutan, as interviews on the ground need to be carried out, and other data obtained would also need to be verified.

“From our perspective, we are sure we can complete the report in the third quarter. It will be our very first edition,” said Dr. Sutan.

“As to the launch [of the report] we would still have to discuss it with other stakeholders about the right timing or the right agency that will launch it. We will try for the fourth quarter at the latest,” he said.  

Indonesia has quantitative tools to measure various aspects of Islamic economy sectors, such as the Sharia Financial Literacy Index, but there is no report or index focused on the development of the Islamic economy as a whole.

Dr. Sutan said the upcoming report is expected to really accelerate the country’s Islamic economy development.

The government will also develop the Islamic Economy GDP that will be formulated by the National Statistics Body (BPS) in collaboration with the central bank, in the next five years.

Bank Indonesia deputy governor Budi Waluyo told Salaam Gateway the BPS will be largely responsible for its development.

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