This represents a paradigm shift in how emerging economies can influence the global pharmaceutical ecosystem while addressing unique national challenges.

Indonesia is pioneering a new approach to pharmaceutical security that recognizes the borderless nature of modern threats. The newly established collaboration between BPOM and the Pharmaceutical Security Institute (PSI) is expected to lead to investigations targeting suspected counterfeit drug networks, with PSI expressing readiness to assist in product sampling and evidence sharing.

An archipelago of 17,000 islands with innumerable informal entry points, Indonesia's geographical reality presents unique challenges that demand innovative solutions. Our success in taking down 160,000 illicit online pharmaceutical links in 2023-2024 demonstrates how digital enforcement can overcome physical limitations.

Our approach to drug safety moves beyond traditional border control to embrace cyber surveillance, real-time alert systems and cross-industry partnerships. We are effectively creating a new template for how middle-income countries can safeguard their pharmaceutical supply chains despite resource constraints and complex geography.

Indonesia is strategically investing in regulatory talent and institutional capacity that will shape global pharmaceutical governance for decades to come. Our engagement with the Indonesian Students Association in Boston, the United States, represents a deliberate effort to recruit the country’s brightest minds studying at world-class institutions to join our regulatory transformation journey.

In communicating BPOM's ambition to achieve World Health Organization Listed Authority (WLA) status, we invited these students – our future scientists and healthcare leaders – to contribute their expertise to reimagining drug access paradigms. Our recent fireside chat at Harvard was not merely informational but a strategic recruitment platform.