December 10, 2024
JAKARTA – At least three Indian pharmaceutical companies are eyeing investment opportunities in Indonesia, according to Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Sandeep Chakravorty.
He said companies like MSN Laboratories and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories are on the list.
“In India, we have a huge program called Jan Aushadhi, where medicines are available at rock-bottom prices to the poor and to everybody. We want to see if the model can be implemented in Indonesia,” Chakravorty said at the India-Indonesia Investment Synergy Forum on Friday.
The diplomat also noted collaboration between Indian and Indonesian healthcare providers, citing India’s Apollo Hospitals and Artemis Hospitals forging partnerships with local counterparts.
In October, then-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo established a special economic zone (SEZ) for tourism and health in Batam, with Apollo Hospitals and local hospital operator Mayapada Healthcare as the main investors. The two companies plan to collaborate to construct the Mayapada Apollo Batam International Hospital, which is set to begin operations in 2026.
Meanwhile, the Artemis Hospital signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with local healthcare provider Abdi Waluyo Hospital on Nov. 20. The agreement includes clinical partnerships, knowledge exchange and nurse training programs and also allows Abdi Waluyo to bring in doctors from India to handle complex medical cases.
Chakravorty stated that collaboration between India and Indonesia could also include Indonesian investment in India, noting that 17 Indonesian companies had invested there.
“We have a high-level visit coming up early next year [from the Indonesian government] to India, and I would say this event serves as preparation for that. The discussions we have today may lead to agreements, MOUs or investment decisions, which we will announce during the high-level visits,” he said.
During Friday’s forum, Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto emphasized that India was a significant partner for Indonesia with bilateral trade of around US$27 billion a year growing by some 20 percent annually. Thus, he stressed the importance of “building bridges” between the two nations, not just in trade, but also in investment.
“Together, we can collaborate in various sectors, such as digital industries, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the healthcare sector, including the development of vaccines and pharmaceutical products, telecommunications and other strategic areas,” he said through a recorded video speech.
On the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in Brazil in November, President Prabowo Subianto held a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During the meeting, the leaders discussed strategic partnerships in various sectors, including health care. Prabowo pointed to Indonesia’s shortage of doctors and suggested that India could help by sending teachers and specialized doctors to train students in Indonesian medical colleges.
On Dec. 2, presidential spokesperson Hasan Nasbi announced that Modi had invited Prabowo to attend the commemoration of India’s Republic Day in January next year.