Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia Prof. Dr. K.H. Ma’ruf Amin, this morning (11/11) inaugurated the Special Work Unit (UKK) for Community Service at Universitas Indonesia (UI) named UI Halal Center, on the Salemba Campus. The beating of the gong was done by Prof. Dr. K.H. Ma’ruf Amin accompanied by UI Rector Prof. Ari Kuncoro, as a symbol of the launch of the UI Halal Center.
In the inauguration of UI Halal Center, the guests–offline and online– were also present, including Minister of State Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir, B.A., M.B.A., Chairman of UI Board of Trustees Saleh Husin, S.E., M.Sc., Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and Assets UI Prof. Dr. Ir. Dedi Priadi, Head of UI Halal Center Dr. Muhammad Luthfi Zuhdi, President Commissioner of PT Paragon Technology and Innovation, President Director of Bank Syariah Indonesia, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Services Authority, President Director of Pegadaian Syariah, Head of Halal Product Assurance Organizing Agency, Ministry of Industry and Advance Technology of United Arab Emirates Farah Al Zarooni, Halal Trade and Marketing Center of Dubai United Arab Emirates Mr. Tomas Guererro, and UI leadership.
Currently, the halal industry has become a trend in various countries. It is not only developed in Muslim-majority countries, but also in non-Muslim-majority countries. The interest of the world community in consuming halal products continues to increase, due to their religious beliefs, also because halal products guarantee product quality from various aspects, such as health, safety, ethics, and eco-friendliness.
The halal industry is a very potential economic sector and is experiencing very rapid global development. The halal industry has developed further, not limited to the food sector, but has expanded to the cosmetics, agriculture, pharmaceutical, fashion, and service industries, such as tourism and finance. This development was triggered by changes in the mindset of Muslim consumers and ethical consumer trends around the world. UI Rector Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D, in his welcoming speech, appreciated the presence of UI Halal Center facilities at UI.
According to him, one of the goals of establishing UI Halal Center is to answer the challenges of the Halal Industry and the increasing interest of the world community in consuming halal products. He hopes that this facility can benefit not only UI residents but also the public. “By opening UI Halal Center, Universitas Indonesia can make a real contribution in realizing the government’s program to make Indonesia the center of halal producers in the world,” he said. UI Halal Center is a research center for halal products as a means of providing product testing services, advocacy consultations for halal products and services, and consumer empowerment training programs. UI Halal Center is a UI’s effort in helping the government implement Law number 33 of 2014 concerning Halal Product Guarantee to guarantee the availability of halal products and product ingredients that are declared halal.
The enactment of this law encourages business actors to apply for Halal Certificates for the products they produce. Therefore, government and non-government institutions including campuses are given the opportunity to contribute to guaranteeing halal products in Indonesia. UI Halal Center program has four focuses, namely Halal Research and Halal Testing. This program focuses on research related to halal products, including food, beverages, medicines (pharmaceuticals), cosmetics, textiles (fashion), services (tourism), and etc. In addition, the Halal Inspection Agency (LPH) is an institution that carries out inspection and/or testing of product halalness.
Halal Auditor is a person who has the ability to carry out Product Halal inspection. Then, the Sharia Business or Halal Products Incubation Center is a mentoring, training and accelerator program for MSME entrepreneurs so that the products produced comply with halal, the National Agency of Drug and Food Control, retail, and export standards and improve the quality of human resources and products so that they are globally competitive. Another program is Halal Training, which focuses on conducting training, workshops and education to increase HR competence in developing the halal industry. The launch of UI Halal Center was organized with an online seminar entitled “Halal Industry in Indonesia and Global Halal Opportunities”. This online seminar invited two keynote speakers, namely H. E. Farah Alzarooni (the Minister of Industry and Advance Technology, UAE) and Tomas Guerrero (the Manager of Halal Trade and Marketing Center, Dubai UAE).
For more information:
