Erick Thohir: Indonesia could be the best in the SGIE sharia economic ranking

Erick Thohir, the minister of BUMN of Indonesia.

JAKARTA -- General Chair of the Sharia Economic Community (MES) Erick Thohir appreciated vice presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka for raising the issue of the State of the Global Islamic Economy (SGIE) in the vice presidential debate forum on Friday (22/12/2023) in Jakarta.

Erick considered this to be an interesting and important discussion for Indonesia in the sharia economic order. "This is not an arbitrary topic. Sharia economics and sharia finance are crucial, especially for us in Indonesia," said Erick, Sunday (24/12/2023).

According to Erick, not many people know that Indonesia is in fourth place in the sharia economic sector. Indonesia is below Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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Erick believes Indonesia can rise to number one in the SGIE ranking. He argued that compared to three other countries, Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world.

Erick hopes that future Indonesian leaders will make the sharia economic sector the focus of economic development. Because it can be a new challenge to advance a just, fair and stable economy.

SGIE became the public spotlight when at the last vice presidential debate forum, Gibran asked vice presidential candidate number 1, Muhaimin Iskandar, about Indonesia's position in SGIE. At that time, Muhaimin couldn't answer and he asked again what SGIE stood for.

Based on data from the SGIE Report 2022 by DinarStandard in March 2023, Indonesia is in fourth place in the world in terms of developing a strong and healthy sharia economic ecosystem. Indonesia's ranking is below Malaysia which is in first place, followed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

SGIE is a global report on the sharia financial industry and sharia economy. There are six indicators or sectors in SGIE, namely sharia finance, halal food, Muslim-friendly tourism, fashion, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and media and recreation. In the 2022 SGIE report, for the sharia financial sector, Indonesia is ranked sixth out of 15 countries in the sharia financial sector assessment.

In the halal food sector, Indonesia ranks second. For the halal fashion sector, Indonesia is ranked third globally.

Meanwhile, in the halal pharmaceutical and cosmetics sector, Indonesia is in ninth place. In SGIE 2022, Indonesia is still not in the top 10 in the Muslim-friendly tourism sector. Indonesia is also not in the top ranking in the halal media and recreation sector.