Head of the Halal Product Assurance Organizing Agency (BPJPH), Ahmad Haikal Hasan, initiated the establishment of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Halal Forum. The establishment of this cross-country halal forum is important to strengthen the global halal ecosystem as well as strengthen Indonesia's role in the global halal economy.

"Yesterday on April 22, 2025, we held a roundtable where we initiated a forum called the ASEAN Halal Forum." said Babe Haikal, Ahmad Haikal Hasan's nickname, in Jakarta, Saturday (3/5/2025).

"Currently, halal has become the competitive advantage in the global halal ecosystem. Therefore, we, the Indonesia Halal Agency, have initiated the immediate formation of the ASEAN - Australia - New Zealand Halal Forum." continued Babe Haikal.

The great influence of halal standards represented through halal certification, he continued, cannot be separated from the fact that halal is universal. According to him, halal has metamorphosed into a lifestyle. Halal is traceability, trustworthiness, and transparency. Halal can be traced, and is very trustworthy, and transparent, from upstream to downstream.

"Halal has become a lifestyle and modern civilization. Even people in various countries consider halal as a symbol of health, a symbol of cleanliness." he continued.

Furthermore, Babe Haikal emphasized that the ASEAN Halal Forum will also raise the important issue of the universality of halal as a product standard, that halal belongs to everyone. Halal as a quality concept does not belong to Muslims only. It is proven that currently the countries that export the most halal products are countries such as China, America, Brazil and so on.

"There are halal transactions that at the current exchange rate is around 21,000 trillion rupiah, this is a serious number. And that is recorded as halal transaction. In fact, there are many more of halal (product) but have not been recorded. It means that the number in fact must be bigger. And in Indonesia, we have only received 637 trillion rupiah." continued Babe Haikal.

"So, the number (potential) is actually very large. But it is nothing if it (what we get) is only about 3-4%. If we grow up more our ecosystem halal, then halal Indonesia will be realized for the world community." he added.

"In ASEAN, the population of ASEAN is almost 1 billion and a quarter of it is in Indonesia, therefore Indonesia initiated this forum so that we can stand on our own two feet." he concluded.