RI urged to promote herbal medicine

SURAKARTA, Central Java: Indonesia should campaign for the use of more herbal medicines to capture potential market share both at home and overseas, a provincial official said.

"With less promotion, the use of herbal medicines will not go any further and just get left behind," secretary of the Central Java provincial administration Mardjiyono said in Solo, Central Java, on Saturday.

He said for example that in China, the use of herbal medicine was very popular and it is getting more popular elsewhere in the world. Many people in China have earned a good living from the traditional herbal medicine industry.

The use of herbal medicine is increasing world wide, currently a US$43 billion global industry.

"However, Indonesia does not have detailed information on the country's revenue from this sector," said Mardjiyono.

Indonesia has about 30,000 species of plants and 7,000 of them can be used in herbal medicines. More than 1,000 small- and middle-sized companies have produced herbal medicines. --Antara