Jakarta. Italian biopharmaceutical giant Menarini saw off Thursday the first consignment of its wound treatment gel produced in its manufacturing hub in Cikarang, West Java, to South Korea.

The first batch of delivery saw Menarini sending as many as 90,000 units of their made-in-Indonesia Dermatix gel to South Korea. The company plans to ship out a total of 300,000 units of Dermatix to Seoul by the end of the year. The shipments are expected to take place in 48 batches. The company, however, did not disclose the value of the exports. 

According to Menarini Indria Laboratories president director Idham Hamzah, the company aims to upscale its exports over the next few years. Data shows that exports only accounted for 2 percent of what the company sold in 2022, with the rest going into the domestic or Indonesian market. However, Menarini intends to boost the export volume to 32 percent by 2025. China and Vietnam are also some of the markets that Menarini plans on expanding its exports to.

During a recent press conference, Idham admitted that the 32-percent-export-volume target was an “ambitious plan”. He named the regulatory approvals and raw ingredients import as the challenges that the company faced toward that 2025 goal.

“We have to comply with the national drug monitoring agencies’ standards in the respective countries. … We are also importing half of our raw ingredients. We are looking for ways to be less dependent on imported goods so we become more resilient,” Idham told reporters in Cikarang on Thursday.

Government data shows Indonesia-South Korea’s trade rose from $18.4 billion in 2021 to $24.5 billion the following year. Indonesian exports to South Korea in 2022 amounted to $12.8 billion.

Both countries also have the Indonesia-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IK-CEPA) which came into force earlier this year. This trade pact eliminates 11,267 or 95.5 percent of South Korean tariff posts.

Menarini Indria Laboratories is a joint venture between Menarini Asia-Pacific --the regional branch of the Italian company-- and PT Indria.

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