Here's An Expert View On The Potential Development Of Biotechnology In Indonesia

JAKARTA Tech in Asia Conference, a technology event held every two years, officially held on Wednesday, October 23. In one of the panel discussion sessions, a number of experts discussed the potential of biotechnology startups.

According to Aloysius Liang, Founder and CEO of Asa Ren, biotechnology startups can develop well in Indonesia. This view is based on the total population of Indonesia, which is ranked fourth for the largest population in the world.

Aloysius also mentioned the inauguration of the Biomedical and Genome Science Initiative (BGSi) in 2022. The national initiative program from the Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin was designed to develop the right treatment.

Through this initiative, the Ministry of Health developed Whole Genome Sequensing (WGS) which relies on the technology of collecting genetic information or genomes from humans or pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria. Therefore, Aloysius believes in the development of biotechnology in Indonesia.

Wesley Tay, Principal of East Ventures, has almost the same view. According to him, Indonesia has strong potential as long as it is supported by government policies in the health sector. In other words, the government is the leader of reforms for the health industry.

Although supported by appropriate regulations, biotechnology startups also require a good market. Without strong support, biotechnology startups can experience difficulties in developing their innovations and technologies.

"How do we do it? We (force) very strong support and it's easy to make that (the development of biotechnology) happen," said Aloysius.

Without support, biotechnology will be difficult to develop in the future. As Wesley explains, this field requires sufficient funding because its discovery can take a very long time. Therefore, investment is needed.

"How do startups get inspiration and metrics? What's the big thing going to happen next? How do you evaluate health technology and decision-making?" said Wesley. According to him, all of these things are very important and startups, "must have specific needs (to develop)."