The Indonesian Ministry of Health through the Directorate General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices held an Academic - Business - Government - Community - Inventor (ABGCI) Synergism Meeting in the context of government support for natural medicine programs, especially Fitofarmaka in Jakarta, Tuesday, February 27, 2024.

This meeting aims to collaborate policies, programs and activities of Ministries / Institutions so that they can be utilized by business actors so as to create a conducive ecosystem for research and development of natural medicine in Indonesia. Presenting speakers from the Directorate of Special Interest Tourism of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, the Center for Standardization and Services of the Pharmaceutical and Packaging Chemical Industry of the Ministry of Industry, the Directorate of Taxation Regulation I of the Ministry of Finance and the Directorate of Research Funding and Innovation of BRIN, representatives from the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Development, Coordinating Ministry for Economic Development, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, KKP, BPOM, Associations, Universities, and industries that produce natural medicine were also present.

Director of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Resilience Roy Himawan in his speech said that as one of the largest centers of biodiversity in the world, Indonesia has tremendous natural potential to be developed into natural medicinal ingredients.

He further explained that based on the results of research on medicinal plants and herbs (Ristoja), around 32,014 traditional medicinal herbs in various parts of the archipelago sourced from 2,848 species of medicinal plants have been used for treatment.

"Around 17,000 herbal medicine products and 79 standardized herbal medicine products have been circulating in Indonesia. On the other hand, only 22 phytopharmaceutical products are circulating in Indonesia. There are still many opportunities to explore the potential so that phytopharmaca products can further develop in Indonesia," he said.

In addition to potential use in the health sector, natural ingredients can be utilized into various products in the community such as food, beauty and fitness products. The potential of natural materials can also develop the tourism sector, creative economy and socio-culture in Indonesia.

Indonesia has launched temulawak as a flagship Indonesian medicinal plant on November 9, 2023, and on December 6, 2023 jamu was also designated as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO's Committee on the Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Various other efforts have also been made by the Indonesian government, "It is hoped that natural material products in Indonesia will become superior, so that these potentials can become people's livelihoods, increase people's economic income, thereby improving the welfare of the Indonesian people," said Himawan.