THE UTILIZATION OF SOFT LAW IN PROMOTING DIGITAL-BASED PLATFORM TO STRENGTHEN INDONESIA’S HALAL INDUSTRY AND SMEs
Abstract
Indonesia is a country with the largest muslim population. Indonesia, with this modality, can prove that Islam can go hand in hand with democracy and development. Despite being the largest muslim population with a robust economic outlook, Indonesia is ranked 4th in the Global Islamic Economy indicator based on the latest data from the Global Islamic Economic Report 2020/2021. It lags its neighboring country, Malaysia, which came in the first place. It is interesting to elaborate further on how Indonesia takes benefit from its strategic position as the biggest muslim population in the world and makes it as “a dark horse” in supporting the resilience of its national economy. Since the Fourth Industrial Revolution is taking its shape in Indonesia, it is important to see how this digital transformation helps develop Indonesia’s halal industry and SMEs. As we know, Indonesia’s Omnibus Law on Jobs Creation (Law No. 11 Year 2020) is a substantial and significant legal reform, including in halal product requirements. The effectivity of the halal certification will be fundamental as they accelerate the business licensing process through electronic-based services. This requires strong cooperation from various other stakeholders. Indonesia Sharia Economy Master Plan 2019-2024 as one of the soft laws should be utilized in promoting the digital-based platform to strengthen Indonesia’s halal industry and SMEs. The paper aims to investigate the relevance of the utilization of soft law in promoting digital-based services to accelerate Indonesia’s halal industry and SMEs. This paper demonstrates how to link digital diplomacy with promoting Indonesia’s Halal Industry and SMEs. The paper also suggests several initiatives to utilize digital platforms to promote the halal industry in Indonesia.
