TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Big tobacco expansion raises alarm
Change Size
Workers complete the manufacturing process of hand-rolled cigarettes in Kudus, Central Java. (Antara/Yusuf Nugroho)
W
ith Indonesia being among the few nations on earth where big tobacco can grow, thanks mainly to its lax tobacco policies, concerns have been raised over the possible influx of investment by foreign tobacco companies into the country, which now has the highest prevalence of smokers in Asia.
While one may argue that fresh foreign money could create more jobs and lead to more prosperity for local farmers, antitobacco activists are wary that the expansion of foreign tobacco firms will further stifle efforts to impose stricter measures on tobacco control, thus further endangering public health.
“I am concerned because the government doesn’t truly protect the people. They let foreign interests dominate this country and let the future generation bear the risks,” the University of Indonesia’s Center for Health, Economics and Policy Studies (CHEPS UI) head, Hasbullah Thabrany, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Read also: Big tobacco firms woos small shops
Hazbullah’s concern was highlighted by the recent move by Japan Tobacco Inc., the world’s fourth-largest cigarette manufacturer, to acquire all shares of PT Karyadibya Mahardika and its distributor, PT Surya Mustika Nusantara, for US$677 million.
The two are subsidiaries of Gudang Garam, one of Indonesia’s largest cigarette manufacturers.
The Tokyo-based company is targeting “smoker-heavy zones” like Indonesia and the Philippines, as it has struggled to sell cigarettes at home, according to Bloomberg. Only weeks after announcing its plan to control the two Indonesian firms, Japan Tobacco revealed it planned to buy the Philippines’ second-largest cigarette producer, Mighty Corporation, for $936 million.
