STRENGTHENING THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE AND COMPETITIVENESS OF MSMES THROUGH THE BTN SYARIAH HALAL CERTIFICATION FACILITATOR PROGRAM IN JEMBER REGENCY

Abstract

The existence of MSMEs as one of the drivers of a country's economy is not in doubt. The contribution of MSMEs as a stimulus for the community in developing themselves and being able to create massive employment opportunities in the midst of society. So that this attracts the government in improving the performance and institutions of MSMEs in accordance with the national programs provided. The halal certification program is one of the mandatory programs for business actors to obtain halal certification management services for free. However, this is unable to fulfill the number of business requests that increase every year. For this reason, the need for a halal certification facilitator program facilitated by relevant agencies to support the inclusion of the halal industry in Indonesia. BTN Syariah Jember is one of the facilitating institutions that provides halal certification voucher services for business actors. Through this program, it can indirectly affect the performance and competitiveness of MSMEs in Jember Regency. The results of this study show that the contribution of the facilitator program runs optimally and is able to provide vouchers for the benefits of halal certification for 35 businesses. So that it indirectly has an impact on improving the performance and competitiveness of MSMEs after halal certification. However, this is still a major challenge for MSMEs to improve digital transformation to support online marketing media in the development of halal-certified MSME products.