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India, China to benefit from latest economy package
Kontan
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Kontan.co.id
India and China, the two largest suppliers of pharmaceutical raw materials to Indonesia, look likely to be the biggest winners from the government's sixth economic package, which is aimed at simplifying permits for the importation of raw materials for drug manufacturers.
'Most of our raw materials are imported from China and India,' said Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) chairman Roy Alexander Sparringa in a text message to Tempo.co on Saturday, adding that the US and Europe were the largest and second-largest exporters of medicine to the Indonesian market.
As previously announced, the government has eased drug-related imports by providing legal assurance of simpler permits issued by BPOM. The import license previously acquired through a transactional mechanism will be shifted to a periodical one, in a bid to trim the number of permits needed in the import sector.
The business community gladly welcomed the new policy, saying the measures were 'in line' with their expectations, would lead to greater efficiency in transactions in the drug industry and might even boost national capacity.
'This is a huge relief. We demanded these [measures] during our latest meeting with President Joko Widodo a while ago,' said Indonesian Food and Beverage Association (GAPMMI) chairman Adhi S. Lukman on Friday. (ags)
