Indonesia has abundant biodiversity, but this potential has not been optimally utilized to provide raw materials for natural medicines. In fact, the ability to provide these raw materials is the basic capital that can support the development of quality natural medicines.

To overcome this challenge, close collaboration between researchers, business actors, regulators, and health practitioners is needed so that natural medicines can be used effectively and safely for the welfare of the community. In order to support efforts to accelerate the development of efficacious, quality and safe natural medicines, the Directorate of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices held a Coaching Clinic and Business Matching of Natural Medicines on 23-25 July 2024 in Bekasi.

The purpose of the meeting was to provide updates on the safety and quality standards of natural medicines, introduce the latest developments in natural medicine processing technology, and bring together natural medicine extract providers with natural medicine manufacturers to encourage collaboration and improve product quality.

In his remarks, the Director of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Resilience, Roy Himawan, emphasized that improving the quality of domestically produced natural medicine raw materials is a government priority. “The goal is that the products produced have high competitiveness and support the independence and development of the natural medicine ecosystem in Indonesia,” he said.

He also emphasized that the government has issued Presidential Regulation No. 54 of 2023 on Herbal Development and Utilization. This policy aims to ensure the development of herbal medicine is carried out in a coordinated, synergized, and integrated manner from upstream to downstream by involving various stakeholders.

One of the participants, Joko Kawiyanto from Borobudur Extraction Center, expressed his appreciation for the event. “We have been focusing more on the market in Central Java, but with this event, we got to know the potential of natural materials in West Java and Banten and the market opportunities,” he said.

This activity not only presented speakers from various institutions such as GP Jamu, BPOM, BRIN, West Java Provincial Agriculture and Plantation Office, but also brought together 70 traditional medicine MSME entrepreneurs from DKI Jakarta, West Java, and Banten. In addition, this event is also a matchmaking forum between providers of natural medicine extracts and natural medicine producers, so that it is expected to strengthen the quality of raw materials used by business actors.

Through this meeting, the government hopes to create a sustainable and increasingly competitive natural medicine ecosystem in the market, as well as increase collaboration between various parties to realize the development of globally competitive natural medicines.