He said that the government is committed to inviting medicine and vaccine manufacturers to invest in the country.
"Regarding this medicine and vaccine, our government is very aggressive (in attempting to entice them). I am involved in it, and I think the talks with Merck and Pfizer are very (promising). God willing, we can and we hope that it must be manufactured in the country so that we do not become only importers but we (can also) become producers," he said at an online press conference as seen in Jakarta on Monday.
Merck is the manufacturer of the COVID-19 antiviral drug Molnupiravir. Pfizer is producing Paxlovid, an oral medication for COVID-19, and the results of a clinical trial for Paxlovid have been announced.
Pandjaitan said that a country as great as Indonesia should not only import medicines. He recalled how weak Indonesia's position was when it couldn't get medicine supplies at the time imports from India were blocked.
Indonesia was unable to get stocks of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine from India even though it had signed a contract, he noted.
"We have experienced in our case (in the past), how much it hurts that we could not get paracetamol because (the supply from) India was blocked. It hurts how we have signed a contract to get Astra-Zeneca, (only to have it be) detained by India. So, these are bitter experiences that we have to resolve," he said.
He urged importers to contribute to building the domestic industry, especially the pharmaceutical industry.
"I urge importers who live only by importing, you start to think for investment from now on, for domestic industry. So, the health industry reform that is being conducted right now is really for the greater good of all of us," he remarked.
Meanwhile, at the same press conference, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government had two medicine procurement strategies for Merck and Pfizer.
In the short term, the government will bring these medicines more quickly through imports so that before Christmas and the New Year, the government has sufficient stocks to anticipate a spike in cases, he informed.
"If anything happens, hopefully not, in year-end, we have readied the cure," he said.
However, those who import medicines must commit to building factories in Indonesia, whether through direct investment or through collaboration with state-owned or private enterprises., he added
Sadikin said the government is continuously discussing and considering these two strategies, including with the two drug manufacturers. A discussion would be conducted this week, and will be chaired by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment, he added.
"Hopefully, we can finish it in the not too distant future," the minister remarked.
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Translator: Ade Irma J, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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