VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Industry Ministry will support certification for the local content level (TKDN) of pharmaceutical products and healthcare equipment to bolster the national industry's self-reliance and global competitiveness.

"Certification is crucial since currently, we have 10 thousand pharmaceutical products that would require certification demonstrating the local content of the products," Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita noted in a statement here on Saturday.

The minister suggested state budget allocation for the certification.

"This is especially since the pharmaceutical and healthcare equipment industry had been included in the additional list of priority sectors in the Making Indonesia 4.0 roadmap," he pointed out.

The minister opined that Indonesia's self-reliance in the pharmaceutical and healthcare equipment industry was deemed crucial, especially under the health emergency scenario.

The industry witnessed a sharp spike in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, while other sectors were severely impacted.

The Industry Ministry’s data indicated a positive growth of 5.59 percent in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and traditional medicine industry in the first quarter of 2020.

The chemical and pharmaceutical industry contributed significantly to the country's investment, with Rp9.83 trillion of investment during the period.

Kartasasmita called for encouraging the pharmaceutical and healthcare equipment industry to meet the domestic demand. The industry's self-reliance is expected to help the country reduce imports to 35 percent by the end of 2022.

"Innovation and the implementation of industry 4.0 in the pharmaceutical and healthcare equipment industry would boost productivity," he affirmed.

Industry Minister’s Regulation No. 16 of 2020 stipulates that the local content level of pharmaceutical products will employ the process-based method rather than the cost-based system.

The process-based method will take into account the research and development conducted by the industry and maintain the confidentiality of the formula, he added. (ANTARA)

The government will bear the expenses of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients undergoing self-isolation at two and three star hotels, Chief of the COVID-19 Task Force Doni Monardo said.

Several regions have opened self-isolation wards at public facilities such as sports hall, he said in an online press conference at Wisma Atlet in Jakarta on Saturday evening.

"The government through the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Finance Ministry has prepared two and three star hotels for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients at the government's expense in accordance with the president's instruction," he said.

The COVID-17 task force, along with the central and regional governments will arrange the mechanism of the program. The task force will evaluate the program including the higher number of cases that needs the government's intervention, he said.

The government plans to bear expenses arising from the use of two-and three-star hotels for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.

"We will continue to increase the capacity of beds, medical workers, and supporting facilities or medicines," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said..

The number of health facilities nationwide is still adequate based on the bed occupancy rate at intensive care units (ICU) and self isolation wards.

On average the bed occupancy rate at ICU reached 46.11 percent and at self-isolation wards touched 47.88 percent at referral hospitals in eight provinces. (ANTARA)

Indonesia has urged Myanmar to resolve the root of Rohingya issue and stressed the need for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable repatriation of Rohingya to Myanmar's Rakhine State.

"Apart from that, we also stressed the need for responsibility sharing among parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention, international organizations and NGOs which have so far paid attention to the issue of irregular migrants to give concrete contributions," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a virtual press conference on Saturday.

At various international forums including the 53rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, Indonesia continued to echo the issue of Rohingya people who have since 2017 fled their homes in Rakhine state to avoid violence by Myanmar military, she said.

This is because Rohingya refugees have become a regional issue since they had their citizenship rejected by the Myanmar government and migrated illegally from refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar,, Bangladesh, to other countries to find better life.

Many Rohingya residents often fell victim to human trafficking, and spent months adrift in the sea on their way to third countries. But the sail ended up in transit country such as Indonesia.

On Sept 7, 2020, Indonesia received another 296 Rohingya migrants in Gampong Ujong Blang, Lhokseumawe City, Aceh Province. The migrants comprised 105 men and 191 women most of them aged less than 18 years.

As per preliminary data, they came from Cox’s Bazaar,, with 119 of them admitting to securing refugee status from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, (UNHCR).(ANTARA)

Indonesia at the 27th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) held via video conference on Saturday pushed member states to work closely to address the challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region.

The forum discussed a wide range of issues, ranging from border dispute, escalating tension in the South China Sea, lack of progress on denuclearization in the Korean Peninsula, terrorism threat to rivalry between two superpowers.

"Under these current circumstances, we underscore the need for ARF to remain relevant to forge cooperation among (member) states in addressing the ever increasingly complex challenges in the region," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a virtual press statement on the meeting.

In the press statement, Indonesia highlighted the significance of member states projecting dialog culture and values and peaceful settlement of conflicts.

The values and norms have navigated the Southeast Asian region in dealing with a wide range of challenges and become a guide to establishing cooperation with partner countries in the region for more than five decades, she said.

"We hope all partner countries including ARF member states to stick to the values," she remarked.

Indonesia is also looking forward to seeing peaceful and stable South China Sea where internationally-recognized principles including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982 are upheld, she said.

In fact, the matter has been outlined in the joint communique of the 53rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) stating that UNCLOS 1982 constitutes the frame of international law for all activities in waters and sea.

"The Code of Conduct in the South China Sea must be consistent with the international law including UNCLOS 1982. Indonesia also stressed that UNCLOS 1982 is the only basis to determine maritime entitlements, sovereignty and sovereign rights, jurisdiction, and legitimate interest in waters and sea," she said. ,

Indonesia also highlighted the importance of strengthening cooperation to deal with transnational security challenges, especially the threats of terrorism and human trafficking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I remind (the forum) that poverty and recession will increase the potential of groups to recruit them in terrorism movement. For its part Indonesia proposes an ARF statement related to treatment of children recruited by or associate with terrorist group. In sya Allah (Gode willing) it could be agreed upon and become the outcome of the ARF meeting," she said..

ARF is part of a series of ASEAN Ministerial Meetings held every year.

ARF consists of 10 ASEAN member states, China, Japan, the United States, Russia,, North Korea, South Korea. India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh, Timor Leste, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and European Union.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. (ANTARA)