The COVID-19 pandemic has affected various sectors, including the economy. Even so, Indonesia is believed to be able to rise from this problem. Vice President Ma'ruf Amin believes that Indonesia has potential strength, even strong base to bounce back after the COVID-19 pandemic. He revealed that there is four potential and bases. The first thing is human resources (HR). The number of millennials, generation Z, and post generation Z currently reaches 174 million people, or 64% more than Indonesia's population. In this way, the proportion of working-age will be greater than that of non-working age. This means that the burden on the age of workers and the elderly borne by the state will be smaller. The potential for economic growth created by changes in the age structure of the population will increase in the future. Second, from the side of the business world. Indonesia has 64 million MSMEs which are not only an economic cushion during the financial crisis. However, it has the potential to be a driver of post-pandemic economic recovery. "Although micro and small businesses are still dominant in MSMEs, they have great potential as a source of income for the community in limiting unemployment, contributing to Gross Domestic Product, increasing the country's foreign exchange, and opening up opportunities for investment," he said in a virtual forum, Monday (28/2/2022).
The third is the international trust in Indonesia as a priceless asset. Trust is something that is produced not given for free, partly because of Indonesia's success in controlling the pandemic. During the G20 presidency, Indonesia carried out its mission to invite countries to prioritize joint recovery. "The pandemic has taught that global recovery will not happen if this effort does not involve all countries in the world, recovering together. Only by recovering together can we grow stronger, recover stronger," added Ma'ruf. Fourth, the great potential that must be optimized to accelerate the revival of the national economy, what Ma'ruf meant was sharia economy and finance. Bank Indonesia data shows that overall priority sectors of the halal value chain can support 24.44% of the national economy. The leading sectors in the halal value chain are agriculture, halal food, Muslim-friendly tourism, and Muslim fashion, he explained. The performance of national Islamic finance during the pandemic also strengthened, especially the distribution of financing from the Islamic financial services industry which recorded a growth of 6.218 percent year on year.
