Biotechnology center to be inaugurated

Biotechnology center to be inaugurated

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto is scheduled to dedicate a new facility tomorrow which will accelerate Indonesia's leap into the biotechnology industry.

The Biotech Center, as the new facility is called, will also present five studies on medicine-processing technologies that will allow Indonesia to produce raw materials for medicines and reduce its dependency on imported medicines, which currently meet 90 to 95 percent of domestic needs.

Biotech Center Manager Muhammad Said Didu said local drug manufacturers will be able to take advantage of the new technologies to help reduce the price of drugs in the country.

The Indonesian Consumer Protection Agency early this month blamed the strong reliance on imported raw materials for high medicine prices in Indonesia, which are among the highest in the Asia-Pacific region.

The US$32-million-center comes under the supervision of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), which is chaired by State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie. It is located inside the Center for the Development of Science and Technology in Serpong.

The Biotech Center, which has been in operation since last April, will be officially opened by President Soeharto tomorrow.

BPPT director for assessment of life sciences Tisno Suwarno told reporters yesterday that the center will focus on industrial and agricultural applications of biotechnology in the areas of antibiotics, vitamins, plantation and crop seedling, embryo transfer and fishery cytology.

Modern biotechnology, he added, has opened up new possibilities in the industries of health, agriculture, chemical, energy, mining and waste treatment.

He added that the Biotech Center has also been developing programs in cooperation with foreign institutions. (31)