PT Meiji to open new drug facility

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

PT Meiji Indonesia Pharmaceutical Industries, a subsidiary of Japan's Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd., will officially open on Thursday a new US$10 million production facility, which will help the pharmaceutical company to strengthen its operations in Asia.

President of Meiji Indonesia Akihiro Yoshioka said on Wednesday that the new facility would help the company achieve a 50 percent increase in exports this year and a 70 percent increase in 2003.

"We will continue to increase our production capacity in Indonesia to meet rising demand in Asian countries," he said.

The new facility, which is located in Pasuruan, East Java, will begin production of antibiotics and drugs this week. The plant is expected to produce some 24 million vials annually.

Minister of Health, Achmad Sujudi, is scheduled to officially open the new facility on Thursday.

"We are confident that with this new facility we'll be able to meet the rising demand in Asian markets," Akihiro said.

He added that the company's headquarters were also planning to relocate its raw material production site outside Japan.

"Indonesia, so far, has been our top priority for the relocation plan," Akihiro told The Jakarta Post.

Meiji Indonesia currently imports almost all its raw materials from Japan.

Meiji Indonesia started operating in the country in 1974 and has been exporting its pharmaceutical products to Japan since 1994.

Data from the company showed that about 37 percent of its products went to the export market in 1999, 39 percent in 2000 and about 48 percent last year.

The main export destinations are Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China.

He added the company was also planning to export drugs to Latin America, Middle Eastern countries and the United States.

Meiji Indonesia also supplied penicillin-based antibiotic products to Takeda Chemical Industry in Japan.

According to Akihiro, the average level of spending on drug products in Indonesia, with its population of over 200 million, was still very low at about $1 billion per year, compared with Brazil's $7 billion, with a population of about 160 million.

"That's why we are now focusing on exporting drug products from Indonesia to other Asian countries," he said.

However, Akihiro expressed confidence that the domestic market for drugs would continue to grow in upcoming years.

Meiji Seika controls an 83.8 percent stake in Meiji Indonesia, while 7 percent is held by Nomura Trading Co. Ltd., 5 percent by Malayan Pharmaceutical Factory SDN Berhad, and 3.5 percent by local businessman Tjipto Pusposuharto.