Bank Indonesia Outlines Three Strategies to Advance the Nation’s Islamic Finance

Jakarta: Indonesia has emerged as one of the global players in Islamic finance over the past decade. Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo, quoting former Vice President Ma’ruf Amin, reiterated that Indonesia must become a new driving force for the world’s Islamic economy and finance.

To achieve this, Perry outlined three key steps. The first is to increase the “passengers” on Indonesia’s “big bus” of Islamic banking, namely Bank Syariah Indonesia. In this effort, BI has mobilized its offices nationwide to engage with Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) as hubs for the Islamic economy.

The second is to expand financial access, especially in pesantren, through the “Ngaji Fiqih, Ngaji Sugih” campaign. The third is to boost Islamic economic and financial literacy, including through numerous Islamic festivals.

“Three main strategies: build Indonesia’s halal economic value chain and attract more participants; expand financial access with ngaji fiqih, ngaji sugih; and promote Islamic finance literacy through dakwah,” Perry said at the National Islamic Economy and Finance Forum in Jakarta, Wednesday, August 13, 2025.

From these three pillars, Perry said, BI has formulated six “pillars” for developing Islamic economic and financial growth.

Developing Pesantren and the Halal Value Chain

For the first pillar, growing participants in the halal economic value chain, BI has three main programs. The first is Gerbang Santri (Islamic Boarding School and Halal Value Chain Development Movement), which empowers pesantren as centers of the community’s economy through increased productivity, business digitalization, and improved financial governance.

The second is Jawara Ekspor (Islamic Entrepreneur Export Network), which builds pesantren business hubs into a network by integrating export information systems, strengthening market access, and fostering international cooperation, all supported by developing products that meet export demand.

The third is Gema Halal (Joint Halal Acceleration Movement), aimed at expanding the halal product market by increasing the production of halal raw materials.

Expanding Financial Access and Literacy

To expand access to Islamic finance under the Ngaji Fiqih, Ngaji Sugih campaign, BI has proposed a national initiative called Sapa Syariah to strengthen synergy between trade and Islamic financing.

“As for dakwah in Islamic finance literacy and inclusion, we will continue to host Islamic economic festivals. Finally, in the literacy sector, we have Lentera Emas, a literacy and inclusion program for Islamic finance toward Indonesia Emas,” Perry said.