Synergizing with ministries to boost Islamic economy literacy: KNEKS

INDUSTRY.co.id - Belitung, Bangka Belitung- The National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance (KNEKS) is seeking synergy with ministries and other institutions to devise a national strategy for bolstering the people's literacy on Islamic economy and finance.

"We will map out programs of ministries and agencies in the next two years to harmonize them. We are aiming to integrate and streamline all of the relevant programs," KNEKS' Director of Islamic Ecosystem Infrastructure, Sultan Hidayat, remarked in Belitung, Bangka Belitung, on Monday (December 11).

According to Hidayat, the fragmentation of existing programs has been responsible for hindering the efforts to boost the people's Islamic economy and finance literacy. He remarked that numerous institutions had been implementing their own literacy programs, thereby resulting in uneven distribution of literacy targets.

Bearing that in mind, he stated that the KNEKS held a discussion with planning bureaus of ministries and institutions to map out their plans and programs in the next two years in the hopes of achieving the optimal results of the existing literacy programs.

Hidayat then noted that the national committee's initiative to formulate a national strategy was a follow-up to Vice President Ma'ruf Amin's instruction to boost Indonesia's Islamic economy literacy to 50 percent by 2025.

Based on a survey by Bank Indonesia in 2022, Indonesia's Islamic economy literacy index still stood at 23.3 percent.

"We aim to increase the score to 50 percent by the end of 2025. Indeed, this is a tall order, but we will make all-out efforts to achieve the target," Hidayat stated.

He then expressed hope that the national strategy would be signed and implemented prior to the shift of power next year.

"We hope that all ministries and agencies will genuinely make use of the strategy," he remarked.

Earlier, VP Amin set the target of Indonesia's Islamic economy and finance literacy reaching 50 percent.

He deemed the current score of 23.3 percent as not being ideal, considering that the country's Islamic economy and finance have delivered numerous international feats.

"I have repeatedly said that it is necessary to further boost the contribution of Islamic economy and finance to the national economy. We need to focus on two key factors, namely literacy and market share," he stated in Jakarta on October 1. (ANTARA)