"We ask that funds from central sources, for example, special allocation funds (DAK), can be used to develop industries that support health," Head of the ministry's Standardization and Industrial Services Policy Agency (BSKJI) Andi Rizaldi said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
"For example, the pharmaceutical industry, especially pharmaceutical industries that use natural raw materials," he added.
He said that businesses that make medicines from natural and traditional raw materials have great potential because Indonesia has abundant natural resources.
According to him, herbal medicines produced in Indonesia are of good quality and can compete in the international market, so special attention is needed from the government to promote business actors making medicines from natural raw materials and help them improve.
"Earlier, the Minister (of Industry) said, without assistance, it might be difficult for small industries to advance to medium industry (status)," he noted.
Besides encouraging the provision of DAK for the herbal industry, his party has also opened a production facility for medicines made from natural raw materials called the "House of Wellness," which can be used by medicine manufacturers.
According to him, the facility has complete equipment for carrying out extraction, evaporation, and product packaging.
Herbal medicine businesses can also take advantage of the facility to test their formulations to get optimal results.
"So, this facility can also be a place to test formulas from medicines," he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said that currently, several components used by natural medicine companies can be found in Indonesia.
Such companies include small traditional medicine enterprises (UKOT), traditional medicine micro enterprises (UMOT), natural ingredients extract industries (IEBA), and traditional medicine industries (IOT).
They produce 17 thousand natural herbal medicines, 79 types of standardized herbal medicines, and 22 types of phytopharmaceuticals.
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Translator: Ahmad Muzdaffar Fauzan, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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