Minister of Airlangga: Currently the Pharmaceutical Industry Market in Indonesia Reaches Rp54 Trillion

INDUSTRY.co.id - Depok- Minister of Industry, Airlangga Hartarto said the pharmaceutical industry market in Indonesia is large due to the large population and the extent of BPJS coverage. The growth of the largest pharmaceutical industry occurred in the second quarter of 2017 at 7 percent.

"The pharmaceutical industry is an important sector, because with BPJS more than 160 million population of Indonesia is covered by this pharmaceutical industry and pharmaceutical industry one of the sectors that grow more than 7 percent," said Airlangga after inaugurating helper care factory PT Bayer Indonesia in Depok, West Java, Monday (4/9/2017).

He added that in the future we will encourage investment in this industry. As did PT Bayer. "They have invested more than 60 years and there is a commitment of investment of Rp500 billion until 2019. This we will see, later we can push investment in this type can be more," he explained.

According Menperin, the pharmaceutical industry is currently more massive in the form of formulations. "The formulation of raw materials is mostly still imported, especially active raw materials, we will encourage these active raw materials can be produced domestically," he said.

Furthermore, Airlangga revealed, the potential of the pharmaceutical industry in Indonesia is still very good. This is because the population of Indonesia is very large and BPJS coverage of the population is very wide in Indonesia. "Almost all types of treatment are covered by BPJS, so it can create a large market of pharmaceutical products, biofarma and non-prescription pharmaceutical products," he added.

Challenges ahead in addition to raw materials, firm Menperin, pharmaceutical industry must be solid innovation. So innovation is in formulation, so R & D becomes one of the keys. There are indeed challenges for clinical trials, because not all free samples are transferred between countries, "Airlangga said.

According to Airlangga, with the maturation of BPJS and the increasingly stable national health insurance (JKN), the pharmaceutical industry will increase market. "Now it's almost Rp54 trillion," he said.

Airlangga continue, the scarcity of raw materials we have to synchronize. "That way, all regulations can make it easier for industries to access raw materials," he concluded.