Indonesia is always open to collaboration with various international stakeholders in developing the sharia economy. Director of Sharia Ecosystem Infrastructure of the National Committee for Sharia Economy and Finance (KNEKS), Sutan Emir Hidayat said this was part of continuing to advance the sharia economy globally. "We are open to all stakeholders to implement Islamic economic principles and collaborate with Indonesia to optimize the role of Islamic economy and finance at the world level," he said at The 13th International Conference on Islamic Economics and Finance and The 7th International Islamic Monetary Economics and Finance Conference, Tuesday. (26/10). This international conference is a gathering place for global sharia economic stakeholders to find innovations and solutions in facing various challenges around the world. Sutan said that there are world challenges including the era of a new normal, digital transformation, the development of the halal economy through global supply chains.
In addition, the greater the challenge in making Islamic financial instruments and innovations in reducing poverty and increasing productivity. The development of Islamic finance also requires an unusual breakthrough. Islamic economics is also now predicted to be an ethical economy that is closely related to a green and sustainable economy. The development of global talent in the field of Islamic economics, as well as digitalization in multi-sectors is no less important. "Therefore, we need to collaborate together, in this case strengthening research in related fields so that it can produce knowledge and initiatives," he said. The chairman of the Association of Islamic Economists (IAEI), Sri Mulyani Indarwati who is also the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, said that the development of Indonesian sharia continues to be promising and growing. Even in the pandemic era, the growth of the Islamic economic sectors was higher than the national economic growth of around seven percent.
"An inclusive sharia economy can be directed at various sectors that are in accordance with its principles and cover many things," said Sri. Islamic economics must be a tool to bring balance and equity to the population, not only in Indonesia but also in the world. Equality, especially in terms of the community's economy, which means eradicating poverty. Sri said the Islamic economy needs to be brought in an inclusive framework so that it is not limited to certain circles. This is also in accordance with sharia principles which were created for the entire universe. Over the past decade, the development of Islamic finance has been dominated by the expansion and growth and creation of Islamic banking institutions around the world. The industry is 59 years old in 2021, since the first trials of usury-free financial institutions that emerged in the 1960s, namely investment savings banks in Mit Ghamr, Egypt and Tabung Haji in Malaysia. The need to seek alternative approaches to economic problems based on Islamic principles and values arose around the 1950s. This became part of the so-called Islamic Awakening. After that, modern Islamic economics was established as a discipline around the 1970s. The First International Conference on Islamic Economics held in 1976 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, by King Abdulaziz University, is considered a benchmark that symbolizes the starting point of Islamic economics as a paradigm of a modern economic system.
