Business · Trade · 3 hrs ago
Indonesia urged to build domestic drug ingredient supply
BPOM chief Taruna Ikrar urged Indonesia to produce more drug ingredients at home at a science and industry convention in Surabaya.
Indonesia’s pharmaceutical industry currently depends heavily on imported ingredients.
Ikrar said universities, businesses and government should work together to build a domestic supply.
Universities can lead research, while businesses invest in turning it into products and government provides supportive policies and regulations.
He said research should become useful products, not remain only in academic publications.
The approach would require stronger research, investment and industrial development, but no specific plan or timeline was announced.
Indonesia’s food and drug regulator chief Taruna Ikrar urged stronger collaboration to build domestic drug ingredient supply.
He said the pharmaceutical industry’s high dependence on imported ingredients needs to be addressed.
He called for stronger research, investment, industrialisation and downstream processing.
Ikrar spoke at the 2026 Science, Technology and Industry Convention at Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology in Surabaya.
- Who
- Taruna Ikrar, head of Indonesia’s Food and Drug Supervisory Agency.
- What
- He urged universities, industry and government to work together to achieve national self-sufficiency in drug ingredients.
- When
- November 12, 2026.
- Where
- The Science, Technology and Industry Convention at Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology in Surabaya.
- Why
- Indonesia’s pharmaceutical industry depends heavily on imported drug ingredients.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The Science, Technology and Industry Convention was held at Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology in Surabaya.
Taruna Ikrar urged stronger collaboration to achieve domestic self-sufficiency in drug ingredients.
CNN Indonesia reported Ikrar’s remarks in a release.
- Speaker
- Taruna Ikrar, head of Indonesia’s Food and Drug Supervisory Agency
- Event
- 2026 Science, Technology and Industry Convention
- Venue
- Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Surabaya
- Convention dates
- November 10-13, 2026
- Imported ingredients
- The pharmaceutical industry was described as highly dependent on imports.
What people are saying
There is collaboration between Academia, Business, and Government, with universities as centers of innovation, industry as the driver of investment and commercialization, and government as the provider of supporting policies and regulations.