Jakarta (Indonesia Window) - Indonesia and Saudi Arabia promote halal economic and investment cooperation for the mutual interests of the two countries.

This was conveyed by the Indonesian Consul General in Jeddah, Mohamad Hery Saripudin in his speech at the 2019 Halal Investment Forum in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday (Sep 18), according to a report from the Saudi Gazette.

“The forum was in line with the ambitions of the Saudi government as set out in its Vision 2030, one of which is to diversify economy and reduce its dependence on oil,” he said.

The Consul General noted that the event is a “warm up” forum for Saudi entrepreneurs and prospective investors to attend the Indonesia Shariah Economic Festival (ISEF) in Jakarta in November 2019 and Halal Summit, scheduled to be held in Jakarta in November 2020.

Meanwhile, the Director of Middle East Affairs at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rizal Purnama said the potential and opportunities of the global halal industry are quite large and promising with a total value of around US$2.1 trillion.

"This makes the halal industry one of the fastest-growing consumer segments in the world," he said, adding that Saudi Arabia remained a strong leader in the Islamic economy.

“It is now ranked fourth for Islamic finance, with close to $500 million in assets across 129 Islamic finance institutions, and ranked among the top 10 for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics," he added.

According to him with Saudi's position as the center of the Muslim world and the 2030 Vision which diversifies the economy, the kingdom has great potential to become a leading entity in the halal industry.

The forum provided a platform for business cooperation aimed at enlarging the production capacity of the Indonesian halal industry to enter the export market, particularly Saudi Arabia and the neighboring regions.

Reporting by Indonesia Window