Indonesia become the host of World Zakat Conference or World Zakat Forum (WZF) 2017 that will be held in Jakarta, 15-16 March 2017. This triennial event is organized by WZF and BAZNAS.

The theme of this event is “Strengthening the Role of Zakat as a Global Instrument to Eradicate the Poverty” that become a big challenge of people. Zakat experts from 20 countries will attend as speakers to share their perspectives toward zakat with regard to social and economic problems, especially poverty alleviation.

WZF Secretary General, Ahmad Juwaini, said that the conference this March will produce strategic formulation and action steps in seeking the optimization of zakat in overcoming poverty in various Muslim countries.

"It requires the involvement of various parties who care about the affairs of zakat in the world to contribute ideas to produce a pithy formula," he said.

In addition to the discussion of these issues, the conference is also held in the context of the succession of new WZF Secretary General election. The period of WZF Secretary General WZF is three years.

"We hope to find a figure that has concerns to move the zakat in the world and has the mobility to interact and travel in order to develop cooperation and synergies between zakat actors in the world," he said.

BAZNAS Chairman, Prof Dr Bambang Sudibyo MBA, CA said that zakat in Indonesia, which is the largest Muslim country in the world, has been used as an official instrument of country in the effort to alleviate poverty. BAZNAS as coordinator of zakat in Indonesia also continues to create innovative programs so that zakat distribution will be more effective and right on target.

"Implementation of WZF 2017 in Indonesia is very important for the management of national zakat, so that both the government and citizen will be more confident with great benefits and role of zakat," he said.

This year, the national zakat collection that is done by all official zakat institutions in Indonesia is targeted to reach Rp 6 trillion, up 20% from 2016. The number is expected to alleviate 1% of the poor people in the country, or about 280 thousand people.

The conference will invite people who work in the field of zakat affairs and activities from various parts of the world, including from non-Muslim countries. By inviting speakers from different areas, the World Zakat Forum expects to be able to spread the agenda and global message to all regions in the world.

Steering Committee member of WZF 2017 who is also the Head of Pusat Pungutan Zakat (PPZ) Malaysia, Amran Hazali said that WZF is a unifying vessel that aims to combine the amil around the world to think about how zakat can be managed in the best interest of the people.

"PPZ-MAIWP (Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council) is always willing to give a commitment to the success of the entire plan of zakat activities in the world, Inshaa Allah," he said.

(Source: www.baznas.go.id | Transl: amelya/puskasbaznas.com)