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Saturday, May 1, 2021 | 07:20 WIB

Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah and President Director of BSI Hery Gunardi signing an MoU, before Chief Justice Anwar Usman and BSI and Court officials, Friday (30/4/2021) at Building 2 of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Teguh.

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk (BSI) on Friday morning, April 30, 2021 at Building 2 of the Constitutional Court. Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah and President Director of BSI Hery Gunardi signed the MoU before by Chief Justice Anwar Usman as well as BSI and Court officials.

Every citizen who owns property, especially in terms of financial management, also has the inherent right to choose the financial management system used in banking services. In that perspective, alternative Islamic banking services are essentially a part of fulfilling the citizens’ constitutional rights in the economic sector, said Justice Anwar Usman.

Islamic banking, he said, is part of Islamic financial practices. Apart from banking, there are also other Islamic financial practices, such as bait ul maal, sharia insurance, sharia pawnshops, sharia mutual funds, and sharia cooperatives, which today are common practices. Some time ago, the government issued sukuk in order to raise public funds to meet national budget financing.

At present, Justice Anwar added, Islamic financial practices or sharia-based financial management have become an alternative for many people not only in Indonesia but also in various countries. The Islamic financial system has become a universal trend, he said.

Meanwhile, Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah said the signing of the MoU was a collaboration between the Constitutional Court and the Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI). Guntur said BSI is part of the government’s policy from the president and vice president to unite three Islamic banks from SOEs: PT Bank BRI Syariah Tbk, PT Bank Syariah Mandiri, and PT Bank BNI Syariah.

“The signing of this MoU, [God willing] will be followed up by programs by [BSI]. We have also informed our staff members to [register with BSI] and enjoy its benefits,” Guntur said.

President Director of BSI Hery Gunardi thanked the Court for its trust. BSI is the result of the merger of three Islamic commercial banks owned by Himbara. BSI was highly expected by the government and other stakeholders to make a broad contribution to the country, provide a new energy for the Indonesian economy, and strengthen the Indonesian economy internationally, Hery explained.

Hery hoped BSI can be a catalyst in the economy. He added that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the growth of Islamic banks has even been better than that of conventional banks.

“Judging from the growth of Islamic bank financing and financing assets in 2020, even though we were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Islamic banks are growing better than conventional banks. Many questioned this. What distinguishes sharia banking from conventional ones is their business model with a more flexible profit sharing method compared to conventional banking models,” said Hery.

Hery believes that the support from the community and stakeholders will help BSI be the biggest sharia bank in the country, spread in all provinces. He added that BSI also allocates zakat from annual profits to the wider community, for example to construct places of worship, provide assistance to foster children, and for village empowerment by building business groups that are expected to help empower the Indonesian people.

Writer        : Nano Tresna Arfana
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 5/3/2021 13:18 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian version, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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