Indonesia Embarks on Cooperation with Japan, India for COVID-19 Medicines Supply

As a form of solidarity and partnership to overcome the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Japan and India have agreed to boost cooperation with Indonesia on medicine supply to cure COVID-19 patients.

Following up on the directives from Indonesian Foreign Minister, both the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo and the Indonesian Embassy in New Delhi have coordinated with relevant authorities in Japan and India to facilitate the realization of the cooperation, which includes among others the procurement of medicines, both in the G to G and B to B frameworks.

As stated by the Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu on 7 April, the Japanese Government is committed to dispatching Avigan medicine to a number of priority countries, including Indonesia.

In addition, the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo has also facilitated the cooperation between Avigan drug manufacturer Fujifilm and Indonesian state-owned pharmacy company Kimia Farma to collaborate on the procurement of Avigan drugs from Japan.

Phase 1 of shipments of Avigan drugs from Japan within the G to G and B to B framework is expected to be done this month.

In the meantime, to forge cooperation in drug raw materials with India, the Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi specifically discussed this issue via phone conversation with the Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Indonesian Representative in India, the Food and Drugs Control Agency (BPOM), and Ministry of State-owned Enterprises have bridged the procurement of a number of drugs in the B to B framework and ensured that the delivery can be carried out amidst restrictions on the movement of people and goods, among  others for: Dexa Medica (Indonesia) and IPCA Laboratories (India) for Chloroquine Phosphate, IMEDCO (Indonesia) with Srini Pharmaceuticals and Cadilla Healthcare (India) for Hydrochloroquine Sulphate (HCS), Indo Farma (Indonesia) with Mylan Laboratories and Hetero Labs Limited (India) for Oseltamivir, and Kimia Farma (Indonesia) with IPCA Laboratories (India) for Oseltamivir.

At present, the B to B cooperation in the procurement of these drugs is in the process of shipping.

Indonesian Foreign Minister expressed appreciation on this cooperation while expressing hope that the partnership can continue to be improved and developed by other countries countries as a joint effort to combat the outbreak. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Translated by: Estu Widyamurti
Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas