The Trade Minister Calls For The Herbal Medicine Industry To Increase Competitiveness In The Covid-19 Pandemic

Residents in Jombang, East Java wrapping red ginger spices (Photo: Syaiful Arif / Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Trade Agus Suparmanto has called on the herbal medicine industry to increase competitiveness and support herbal medicine MSME players to develop products for foreign markets where consumers are now more health conscious during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We can turn the momentum of this crisis into a leap of opportunity. Herbal medicine is one of the local advantages that has great potential in the domestic and foreign markets. Moreover, the disruption that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the behavior and consumption patterns of the world community towards a more health-conscious direction, ”said Agus through an official statement in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Tuesday, September 15.

Agus's statement while giving a speech at a web seminar entitled "Modern Herbal Medicine for the Indonesian Market, Asia, Africa, Middle East, Europe and the United States".

In terms of increasing market access, both export and domestic, Agus sees that herbal medicine entrepreneurs can intensify omnichannel distribution patterns that combine the strength of online distribution channels such as marketplaces, social media, and websites, with conventional offline distribution channels.

According to him, the domestic industry can imitate the foresight of the herbal medicine industry in seeing export opportunities in the midst of a pandemic. Therefore, the Ministry of Trade appreciates the GP Jamu initiative which sees the opportunity for herbal medicine during the pandemic as a native Indonesian herbal product to be exported abroad.

"The role of GP Jamu will help move Indonesia's economy and trade and at the same time keep people healthy through the consumption of herbal medicine," said Agus.

He also conveyed that the Indonesian herbal medicine industry was able to face challenges and take advantage of existing opportunities.

The herbal medicine industry, he continued, has an important role in the national economy by providing employment for three million workers, and last year it grew 6 percent or above the national economic growth.

"In addition, with approximately 90 percent of raw materials coming from within the country, the herbal medicine industry will provide a significant multiplier effect in economic growth from the upstream to downstream sectors," said Trade Minister Agus.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of sectors have been able to survive the pandemic. For example, the chemical, pharmaceutical and traditional medicine industries grew 8.65 percent in the second quarter of 2020 when compared to the same period the previous year.

Meanwhile in the biopharmaceutical or medicinal plants sector, the overall export value has indeed been affected by the pandemic.