M

aking up more than 10 percent of toothpaste sales in Indonesia, British consumer healthcare manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is trying to strengthen its grip on the consumer-healthcare market by investing up to £4 million (US$5.2 million) for a new factory in East Jakarta.

The company is partnering with Hong Kong-based beauty products manufacturer Li & Fung Beauty (LFB) to build the factory, which will produce Sensodyne — a toothpaste product to relieve sensitive teeth — for domestic distribution.

GSK consumer healthcare president director Pawan Sud and LFB president director Gerard Raymond, along with the British Ambassador to Indonesia Moazzam Malik, kicked off the construction in Jakarta on Tuesday.

“Sensodyne sales in Indonesia have doubled over the past four years and thanks to this, we now have more than 10 percent of the toothpaste market share here,” Sud said on the sidelines of the construction kickoff ceremony, while declining to elaborate on the exact figure.

Sensodyne alone accounted for a staggering 45 percent of GSK’s total sales of over-the-counter consumer healthcare products last year.

Sud explained that the promising market for Sensodyne was one of the reasons the company had decided to build a factory in Indonesia. “According to our data, one third of Indonesia’s population suffer from teeth sensitivity, but only 50 percent of them treat it,” he said.

The new factory, which will occupy a 3,700-square-meter site, is expected to be completed by 2019 and fully operational producing 20 million tubes of toothpaste by 2020. The firm has forecast that the factory will employ 250 local workers in addition to the 1,300 that the firm already employs.

The company has invested £13.2 million over the past two years in its business in Indonesia, including the expansion of its manufacturing facility in Pulogadung, East Jakarta, in 2015.

GSK has been selling its products for 30 years in Indonesia. Aside from Sensodyne, among its best-selling products are pain reliever pills Panadol and children’s growth supplement Scott’s.

LFB’s Raymond said that GSK had sought a partner with deep local knowledge of Indonesia, choosing LFB because of its long-term operation in Indonesia of more than 40 years.

“This is a new stepping stone in our cooperation in Indonesia. It is also another step in our cooperation as we have been collaborating for 30 years in Malaysia in producing Scott’s,” said Raymond.

The factory is using 100-percent local materials for its packaging but remains reliant on imported material for the product ingredients. “Nevertheless, we are always looking for ways to add more local resources into our product composition,” he said.

Ambassador Malik said the factory construction showed his country’s commitment to investing in Indonesia, as GSK was one of the companies that met with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo during his London visit last year.

“When President Joko Widodo visited London last year, he was very keen to meet British businesses, and we were very keen to give him an opportunity [to build a] relationship with the British business community,” he said.

United Kingdom companies, Malik added, were in Indonesia for the long term and committed to being steadfast partners with Indonesia to help it “emerge on the world stage.” (dea)