Following up on the direction of the President of the Republic of Indonesia to Ministers, Heads of Institutions, Heads of Regions and SOEs regarding Affirmative Action to Increase Purchases and Utilization of Domestic Products (PDN) in the framework of the National Movement Proud of Indonesian Products (BBI), the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs held the Second Phase of Business Matching activities with the theme “Medical Devices Products, Wellness Products, and K3 Products (Safety, Security and Health) complementing the implementation of the first Business Matching in Bali on March 22 to 24, 2022.

The event, held on April 11-12, 2022 at Smesco Exhibition Hall Jakarta, was attended by Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin accompanied by Director General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Lucia Rizka Andalusia, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno, and Head of LKPP Abdullah Azwar Annas.

In this activity, the Minister of Health conveyed the target of spending on the procurement of goods and services specifically in the health sector of 78% from within the country, the percentage exceeded the target proposed by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

The first effort made to achieve this target is to make transparency. The Minister of Health explained that the total purchase of goods and services procurement was Rp.35 trillion, and Rp.28 trillion of which had entered the government procurement system. The second effort is to create a sectoral e-catalogue. There are already 55 thousand medical devices and drugs in the sectoral e-catalogue. “We separate domestically produced medical devices and drugs from those that are not domestically produced. If there is imported production, we close it so that we buy it domestically,” said the Minister of Health.

The third effort is monitoring conducted directly by him. “This (monitoring) I myself will go down, I will see whether or not the Rp.28 trillion is spent on domestic products,” he said. Not all health products are produced domestically, but many health products have been produced domestically. CT Scan machines in hospitals, for example, cannot yet be made in Indonesia, but most of those that are often used, such as syringes, infusions and infusion sets, and hospital beds, have been produced in Indonesia.

The Minister of Health explained that cooperation is needed to increase the number of domestically produced health products. According to him, the most practical and fastest cooperation is to enter into a partnership with technology owners. “So many entrepreneurs are now importers. We call them, we will not shut down their business, but make the factory here. Because if they come to build a factory here, the workforce will be formed and we can partner with them because we already trust them. That is the fastest way compared to developing new ones,” said the Minister of Health.

The event, which was held offline, also presented several speakers from the Indonesian Ministry of Health who had the opportunity to deliver presentations, including the Head of the Bureau of Finance and BMN Bayu Teja Muliawan, Secretary of the Directorate General of Health Services Azhar Jaya, Director of Pharmaceutical Production and Distribution Agusdini Banun Saptaningsih, and Representatives of Dr. Mohammad Hoesin Palembang Hospital, with the moderator Director of Production and Distribution of Medical Devices Sodikin Sadek.

In this activity, the Government Goods and Services Procurement Exhibition and Business Meeting will also be held from April 11 to 21, 2022. There are 4 categories that will be held in every 2 days. For the first session/category, the exhibition features various medical devices and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) products, which will be held from April 11 to 12, 2022.

Then the exhibition continued with agricultural technology products, manufacturing, and heavy equipment. Not only that, the exhibition also features communication, IT, digital products, and 17 creative industry subsectors that include game developers; architecture; interior design; music; fine arts; product design; fashion; culinary; film, animation, and video; photography; visual communication design; television and radio; crafts; advertising; performing arts; publishing; and applications.