"The number of medical device companies has increased eightfold since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This development shows the increasing need for quality health services," the ministry's Acting Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment, and Electronics (Ilmate), Putu Juli Ardika, stated on Wednesday.
He affirmed that this achievement also reflects the stronger domestic industrial sector.
At the start of the pandemic in 2020, Ardika stated that there were only 150 medical device companies in the country. In 2024, the number has increased to 1,199 companies based on the ministry's data.
This figure also accelerated the absorption of local medical device products (AKD) to 48 percent from the initial absorption of only 12 percent in 2019, he stated.
Ardika remarked that his ministry is also establishing collaborations with related ministries and institutions as well as associations to increase the contribution of the medical device industry to the advancement of the national economy, considering the existing high difference in the trade balance of medical device products.
Ardika highlighted that based on data from the Ministry of Health in 2023, some 1,549 types of imported products were in circulation. This figure is more than three times higher than the 422 types of local products in the domestic market.
Meanwhile, the number of distribution permits for imported products (AKL) also reached 54,217, or almost four times the number of distribution permits for local products of 14,208 permits, he noted.
"This phenomenon caused the medical devices trade balance until June 2024 to experience a deficit due to the large import value reaching USD456 million compared to the export value of USD111 million," Ardika explained.
To overcome this, his side has mapped the medical device industry prioritized for development, such as disposable personal protective equipment products, hospital furniture, orthopedic implants, and radiology equipment, he stated.
"The medical device industry is included in the medium-high technology industry group in the 2025-2045 National Long-Term Development Plan (RPJPN)," Ardika added.
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Translator: Ahmad Muzdaffar, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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