Proceedings of The International Conference on Research in Social Sciences and Humanities
Year: 2019
DOI:
Indonesia Soft Power Diplomacy: Halal food in the Implementation of Indonesian Public Diplomacy
Arin Fithriana
ABSTRACT:
Indonesia, as the largest Muslim population country, should properly include halal food as a national strategic product. Public diplomacy activities to introduce halal food have been increasing intensively, have been carried out by the Indonesian government. This paper aims to analyze Indonesia’s potential as well as challenges in implementing public diplomacy of food halal. Public diplomacy in this discussion focuses on public involvement in achieving national interests. Internal public support largely determines the success of a country’s diplomacy. The analysis is carried out by considering the internal and external conditions surrounding the development of Indonesian halal food. The results show that in the internal scope, Indonesia has sought institutionally in the context of halal food certification. The government also disseminates and educates the public about the importance of halal food, for example through several exhibitions, electronic and mass media. However, the results of the study indicate that public concern regarding halal food in Indonesia has not yet been developed. While in the external sphere, Indonesia has strived to meet international halal food standards. Indonesia also faces competitors of halal food producers from other countries. In the end, this study concludes that halal food is a soft power that has the potential to be developed in the implementation of Indonesian public diplomacy. Nonetheless, Indonesia is still not a major player in the development of world halal food. Indonesia must further empower the public to actively participate in the implementation of halal food diplomacy.
Keywords: Halal Food, Indonesia, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power.