Erick Thohir, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises
Jakarta, IO – Erick Thohir, Minister of StateOwned Enterprises (BUMN), praised Gibran Rakabuming Raka for bringing up the State of the Global Islamic Economy (SGIE) during the Vice Presidential Candidate (Cawapres) debate last Friday, December 22.
“I highly appreciated Mr. Gibran for addressing the SGIE issue, as it is no trivial topic,” said Erick in his post on his official social media account @ erickthohir, quoted on Tuesday, December 26. “I appreciate young leaders who are committed to the Islamic economy,” he continued.
Erick, who also serves as the Chairman of the Islamic Economic Society (MES), believes that SGIE is a significant topic of Islamic finance in the national economy.
Indonesia ranks fourth worldwide for the best indicators of Islamic economics on SGIE data, despite being behind Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. “Indonesia has enormous potential to be the first in SGIE to house the largest Muslim population in the world,” he stated.
According to the State of the Global Islamic Economy (SGIE) Report 2022 released by Dinar Standard, Indonesia is in fourth place in terms of developing the Islamic economic ecosystem. The SGIE Report 2022 also awards Indonesia’s halal food products in a second rank globally. The report highlights Indonesia’s progress in innovating many aspects of the Islamic economy.
During the vice-presidential debate’s Q&A session, Gibran, the candidate for vice president Number Two, posed a question about SGIE to Muhaimin Iskandar or Cak Imin. Gibran took advantage of the chance to ask for steps to improve Indonesia’s ranking in SGIE.
Read: “Running is part of my life, but I also need other sports”
Muhaimin seemed to be taken aback by the question about SGIE asked by Gibran. “To be honest, I’m not familiar with SGIE. What is SGIE?” said Muhaimin.
Gibran then explained his question and also apologized for causing any difficulties for Muhaimin. May Indonesian future leaders be capable of improving the SGIE ranking. (rp)