Jakarta, cartitleloans Indonesia
—
The government opens up opportunities for reduction
Hajj expenses
and Umrah by shifting the congregation’s food supplies to domestic producers.
The food supply for the Hajj pilgrims is estimated to be worth IDR 50 trillion to IDR 60 trillion per year.
Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan said the initial step was taken through the formation of a special working group (pokja) which immediately prioritized the food sector.
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
“Today we have created a working group for Hajj and Umrah. There is a lot that needs to be done, but we are taking this short time to eat first,” said the man who is familiarly called Zulhas at a press conference at the Coordinating Ministry for Food, Central Jakarta, Wednesday (3/12).
He detailed that consumption needs cover around 221 thousand Hajj pilgrims and 1.7 million Umrah pilgrims, with most of the food supply coming from other countries.
According to Zulhas, Indonesia will gain double benefits if domestic producers can supply food for the congregation.Apart from the economic benefits of the supply chain, pilgrims can also get lower travel costs.
“If we can supply everything later, that means the benefits will be part of us. At least the cost of the Hajj won’t increase, maybe it could go down,” he said.
However, Zulhas admits that there are a number of obstacles to cross-border food regulations.
“There are several obstacles, for example BPOM from there. Therefore, our BPOM here is asked to immediately communicate to remove obstacles to food trade, both ready-to-eat and fresh,” he said.
Regarding the potential for reducing costs, he said the exact value was still being calculated.However, if food supplies shift to Indonesia, there is significant room for efficiency.
“Where the price (per portion) is US$ 2, here it might be US$ 1.8. It could be cheaper, meaning the costs will go down. We haven’t calculated how much because the working group was just formed,” said Zulhas.
The government and Commission VIII DPR RI had previously agreed on the cost of traveling for the Hajj (Bipih) 1447 H/2026 M amounting to IDR 54.19 million per pilgrim, with an average total BPIH reaching IDR 87.41 million, down around IDR 2 million from the previous year.Some of the costs are supported by the BPKH Benefit Value of 38 percent.
President Prabowo Subianto also asked for continued efficiency so that the cost of Hajj continues to fall and waiting times are reduced from an average of 40 years to 26 years.
[Gambas:cartitleloans Video]
(del/sfr)
