JAKARTA - The Minister of Trade, Agus Suparmanto, said that the export value of Indonesian herbal medicine or biopharma products in the January-September 2020 period increased by 14.08 percent compared to the same period last year. This achievement is quite encouraging, especially amidst the global economic slowdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"After declining during the last five years (2015-2019) except in 2017, Indonesia's exports of herbal medicine or biopharmaca managed to record a value of USD 9.64 million in January - September 2020. This value increased by 14.08 percent compared to the same period (January - September) last year which was worth USD 8.45 million,” explained the Trade Minister.
The destination countries for exports of Indonesian biopharmaceutical products in the January - September 2020 period were still dominated by India (62.30 percent), Singapore (6.15 percent), Japan (5.08 percent), Malaysia (3.75 percent), and Vietnam. (3.17 percent). In 2019, Indonesia ranked 19th in the world's exporting countries of medicinal herbs or biopharmaceuticals with a market share of 0.61 percent. Meanwhile, the world's herbal or biopharmaceutical suppliers are still dominated by India (33.46 percent), China (27.54 percent), and the Netherlands (6.05 percent).
The Trade Minister added that to increase exports, the Ministry of Trade has developed a strategy to increase the short and medium term, one of which is through a product approach. Products that are the focus are, among others, processed food and beverage products; health equipment; agricultural products, fishery products; and agro-industrial products. (LM)