JAKARTA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian health ministry has taken measures to find the source of raw material for pharmaceutical industry in domestic that will reduce the country's high importation of the unprocessed materials, a senior official of the ministry disclosed here on Monday.
Investment in research and development had been increased to find the substitute for the imported drug materials and boost the quality of products, said Maura Linda Sitanggang, director general for pharmaceuticals and medical equipment of the ministry.
"...Indonesia's pharmaceutical industry is expected to manufacture raw materials in domestic, so that in 2025 Indonesia will be able to reduce reliance on imported raw materials," Lind said.
High dependency on materials shipped from overseas has significantly hiked prices of drug in the country.
The director said that with more efforts focused on research and development, the country's drug producers may boost the quality of their products.
"....so that we can be exporter of drug and raw materials for drugs," she added.
The director reminded that Indonesia requires a huge number of the raw materials along with sophisticated technology for developing the industry.
Hence, Indonesia, home to over 250 million populations, will be a favorable investment ground and a huge market for the pharmaceutical industry, she cited.
