Exhibition highlights 'Jamu'

Exhibition highlights 'Jamu'

YOGYAKARTA: Herbs and traditional herbal medicines, popularly
known as jamu, are one of the highlights of the 8th Jogja Export
Expo at the Jogja Expo Center here until Tuesday.

According to Hermawan Ardiyanto of the expo's organizing
committee, some 40 companies comprising of jamu producers, herbal
plant producers and medicine ingredient traders will participate
in the exhibition, which the committee claims is the first of its
kind to be held in the country.

The exhibition, he said, is aimed at making the city the
center of the herbal medicine industry in Indonesia.

"With the emerging empon-empon (traditional medicinal herbs)
plantation in the province, its historical background as the
heritage city and as the location of the Yogyakarta Palace, we do
think that Yogyakarta deserves the status (as the heart of the
herbal medicine industry)," Hermawan said.

He said, that although Jogja's Export Expo had been held
annually since 1995, this year the organizing committee allocated
a special space to herbal medicines and related industries, aside
from craft and home interior products.

"We are optimistic that we will be able to realize this dream
within or four years at the latest", he said.

He said that the organizing committee currently focused only
on domestic industries but in the future they would start
inviting foreign industries, especially those of Asian countries,
to participate in the exhibition.

This way, Yogyakarta would not just be known for the
availability of Indonesian herbal medicines, but for those of the
rest of Asia, Hermawan said. -- JP