Jakarta – The Canadian government visited the official residence of Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. They came to discuss cooperation in guaranteeing halal products and the education sector.
The meeting took place in complete privacy at the Widya Chandra Resort, Jakarta. Also present were Canada’s Minister of Commerce, Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, Mary Ng, and her delegation. Meanwhile, Minister of Religion Yaqut was accompanied by Head of the Halal Product Guarantee Organizing Agency (BPJPH) Aqil Irham, special staff of Minister of Religion Abdul Qodir and expert staff and spokespersons of the Ministry of Religion Anna Hasbie.
This meeting followed the previous meeting in 2022. At that time, Mary Ng went to the Ministry of Religion office and met with Deputy Minister of Religion Zainut Tauhid Sa’adi.
Minister of Religion Yaqut hopes that Indonesia and Canada can agree on establishing cooperation to ensure halal products. He asked the head of BPJPH to immediately follow up on this approach so that it can come to fruition quickly.
“What is more important is what we can help for Canada and vice versa for Indonesia. Because the standards of each country are certainly different,” Religion Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas was quoted as saying by detikHikmah from the website of the Ministry of Religion, Tuesday (22/8/2023).
“In 2024, all foreign products will no longer be able to enter Indonesia if they do not have halal certification. This is a form of state protection for the public. We hope that our products will also be able to enter Canada more easily. He continued.
After discussing increasing halal guarantees, Indonesia and Canada also plan to collaborate in the education sector. On this occasion, Minister of Religion Yaqut said that Indonesia has four million students from Islamic boarding schools.
“We have four million students whom we encourage to study abroad, including in Canada. The issue of education is also very important. And the two countries can exchange promotions in the field of education” , concluded Yaqut.
On the same occasion, Mary Ng expressed her thanks to the Minister of Religion and staff for the meeting. He also hopes that this collaboration can come to fruition soon.
“We really hope that this collaboration in the areas of halal and education can come to fruition soon. Thank you for your time and we are very honored to be well received by the Minister of Religion and his staff,” he said. -he adds.
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