The Socialization of State Sukuk by Bogor Agricultural University
It may be strange to hear “sukuk”. Even for most of us, what is sukuk and its usufelness, or its benefits and risks is still unknown. To provide first hand information on Sukuk, the Directorate General of Debt Management, Ministry of Finance organized a forum to socialize it. Campus is taken as the strategic target for such dissemination activities. Accordingly, with the theme "State Sukuk Goes To Campus 2011", Bogor Agricultural University was chosen as the venue for the socialization of Sukuk for the universities in Bogor areas. The socialization process was carried out on 29 April 2011, by Faculty of Economics and Management (FEM) Bogor Agricultural University as the host. Hundreds of lecturers and students from various universities in Bogor and its surrounding areas attended the forum.
Simply sukuk is Sharia State Securities (Sukuk State). It is one of the booming Islamic financial instrument. Currently sukuk has become an investment instrument with a very bright prospect. Dr. Irfan Syauqi Beik, professor on Islamic Economic of Faculty of Economics and Management (FEM) Bogor Agricultural University was invited to be one of the speakers stressed that sukuk could give greater effect to the stretching of the real sector, therefore, the orientation of sukuk should be directed to three aspects: infrastructure, labor-intensive sector, and optimizing the potential of the region. Why? Indonesia’s infrastructure is relatively left behind compared to other countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. Economically, the multiplier effects that are generated from the development of this infrastructure would be enormous. The issuance of sukuk to build a port for example, is believed to provide significant impact on the development of domestic industry. Traffic domestic trade and exports and imports will increase. Similarly, airport infrastructure, inter-provincial toll-roads, especially on large islands such as Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and other projects could be listed for projects that for its implementation could be realized through state sukuk. State Sukuk could also be directed for the financial of labor-intensive projects such as agricultural and marine, for example for procurement of fishing boats for fishermen so that the efficiency of fishing effort increases. In addition, sukuk might be directed to infrastructure development in areas that have tourism potential. For areas with mining potential, sukuk can be utilized as working capital for the procurement of oil and gas mining.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Debt Management, Ministry of Finance presented two resourcebpersons Mr. Agus P Laksono and Ms. Diane Handy, each of whom discussed the legal aspects of sukuk financing instruments and state and syariah-based investment. To complete the discussion, presented at the discussion Mr. Tumpal Sihombing (PT Indonesian Stock Pricing).
The Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management Bogor Agricultural University, Dr. Yusman Syaukat stressed that Bogor Agricultural University was chosen to be the host of the socialization of sukuk information as the is dynamics progress of Univerisity. "The University offers a course on Economic of Sharia. Of course this has become the synergetic couse for the disseminating of Islamic financial products, "he explained. (Wied).
