Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto during a bilateral meeting on Monday with Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra agreed to enhance cooperation in halal industry development.
President Prabowo emphasized that collaboration in the development and standardization of the halal industry would increase the value of bilateral trade, which currently stands at US$18 billion.
"We also aim to strengthen the halal industry development and standardization, as well as the digital economy, particularly in financial technology, e-commerce, and infrastructure," he said while issuing a joint press statement with PM Shinawatra in Bangkok.
Prabowo stressed that the two countries are committed to holding the First Joint Trade Commission soon.
In Southeast Asia, the halal product industry is not only dominated by Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, but also Thailand, which has had its own halal certification body in place since 1948.
Therefore, he said, halal industry development was among the key topics discussed during the bilateral meeting between the governments of Indonesia and Thailand at the Thai Government House.
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On the same occasion, PM Shinawatra said that halal industry cooperation falls under the food security framework.
"In terms of food security, we agreed to strengthen cooperation through the trade of agricultural products and the halal industry," she added.
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Regarding food security, President Prabowo said that both countries wish to strengthen their supply chain resilience and establish joint ventures for food management and storage.
He added that Indonesia and Thailand plan to reactivate the Indonesia-Thailand Energy Forum.
"We welcome the participation of Thai entities in Indonesia's energy sector and will also reopen the Indonesia-Thailand Energy Forum later this year," he said.
