On Tuesday (28/06) Duta Intidaya became the 7th company to list on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in 2016. The company, an Indonesia-based health & beauty products retailer and specifically known for being the operator of the Watsons stores in Indonesia, made a solid trading debut. Its shares rose five percent to finish at IDR 189 per piece. Through the initial public offering (IPO), Duta Intidaya seeks new funds for business expansion and debt settlement. The company is set to open new branches and expand its e-commerce activities.

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For its raw materials the pharmaceutical industry of Indonesia is highly dependent on imports. Around 90 percent of medicines' raw materials, roughly IDR 7 trillion (approx. USD $526 million), may be imported this year. Meanwhile, given the Indonesian government is eager to develop its universal health care program (launched in 2014), demand for pharmaceutical products in Indonesia is expected to rise further. Total clients under the national health insurance program is expected to rise from 162 million in 2015 to 186 million in 2016. By the year 2019 the government wants to provide universal health care to all Indonesians.

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There is a growing mismatch between claims paid and premiums received by Indonesia's Healthcare and Social Security Agency (Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial, or BPJS Kesehatan). This year the deficit could reach IDR 9.8 trillion (approx. USD $731 million), leading to concern about the financial sustainability of the program and the need to search for additional and innovative ways to fund Indonesia's National Health Insurance (Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional, or JKN) program.

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Salah satu paket stimulus ekonomi selanjutnya dari Pemerintah Indonesia akan berfokus pada meningkatkan produksi dalam negeri bahan baku untuk obat-obatan dan perangkat medis. Saat ini, industri tersebut masih sangat tergantung pada impor bahan baku. Diperkirakan bahwa sekitar 90% dari bahan baku/dasar untuk pembuatan obat-obatan dan perangkat medis perlu diimpor dari luar negeri sehingga menyebabkan tekanan tambahan pada neraca pembayaran Indonesia.

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RSM Indonesia, one of Indonesia's leading audit, tax and financial advisory firms, expects to see more mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Indonesia in 2016 due to the improving global and domestic economic conditions, a stable rupiah exchange rate, and Indonesian's growing purchasing power. For foreign investors a M&A deal is one of the strategies to enter Indonesia. Up to early November, the total value of M&A deals in Indonesia in 2015 stood at USD $3.53 billion.

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On the latest shareholder meeting (conducted Wednesday 23 September) it was decided that Indonesian hospital operator Mitra Keluarga Karyasehat can go-ahead with its planned 10:1 stock split. The company wants to reduce its shares’ nominal value by ten in order to boost liquidity as shares become more affordable. Meanwhile, shareholders also agreed to boost the company’s paid up capital. After Siloam International Hospitals, Mitra Keluarga Karyasehat is Indonesia’s second-largest hospital operator.

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The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) stated in a recently published report that Indonesia has made significant progress in reducing the country’s child mortality rate. According to the report, entitled “Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed (Progress Report 2015)", Indonesia’s mortality rate for children below the age of five years currently stands at 27 deaths per 1,000 births, a significant improvement from the 85 deaths per 1,000 births that was recorded in 1990.

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Perusahaan farmasi Indonesia Merck, yang dikontrol oleh perusahaan jasa kesehatan konsumen dari Jerman Merck Holding GmbH, merencanakan untuk melaksanakan stock split pada tahun 2015 dalam usaha meningkatkan likuiditas dan perdagangan saham perusahaannya. Merck pada saat ini mendiskusikan rencana tersebut dengan Bursa Efek Indonesia dan Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK). Bambang Nurcahyo, Direktur Keuangan Merck, mengatakan bahwa rasio ideal untuk rencana stock split ini adalah 1:20. Sebuah rapat umum pemegang saham akan diadakan pada pertengahan 2015.

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On Tuesday (24/03), Indonesian hospital operator Mitra Keluarga Karyasehat became the second company to list on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in 2015. It turned out to be a highly successful initial public offering (IPO) as the company’s shares surged 24.7 percent on its trading debut, reflecting investors’ solid confidence in healthcare stocks. Mitra Keluarga, subsidiary of pharmaceutical company Kalbe Farma, raised IDR 4.4 trillion (USD $341 million), hence constituting the largest IPO since Garuda Indonesia’s IPO in 2011.

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Shares of Kalbe Farma, Indonesia’s largest pharmaceutical company, have been under pressure over the past couple of days due to the deaths of two hospital patients after they had taken a medicine manufactured by Kalbe Farma. According to the Indonesian Pharmacy Association (GP Farmasi Indonesia) Buvanest Spinal, an anesthetic, was wrongly packaged and hence did not contain bupivacaine but instead tranexamic acid, which aims to stop or reduce heavy bleeding (usually used during surgery).

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It is interesting to take a quick look at Indonesia’s national healthcare program (in Indonesian: Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional, JKN) that is managed by the government’s Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan).

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At the start of 2014 the government of Indonesia launched its ambitious universal health coverage (UHC) program. This program aims to ensure that all Indonesians (whether rich or poor) have access to health services (of sufficient quality), while also ensuring that the Indonesian people do not suffer financial hardship when paying for these health services. In other words, the program aims to deliver affordable healthcare to all citizens.

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The Indonesian government launched its universal healthcare program (Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional, or JKN) on 1 January 2014. This government-subsidized program aims to cover all Indonesian citizens - providing them with access to a wide range of health services – by the year 2019.

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Vincent Harijanto, Head of the Indonesian Pharmaceutical Association (GP Farmasi) business development committee, said about 95 percent of raw materials used in Indonesia's pharmaceutical industry need to be imported from abroad. This dependence on imports causes several problems, for example prices of pharmaceutical products are relatively high on the Indonesian market, while Indonesian pharmaceutical companies (and Indonesian consumers) can suddenly face rising prices in times of rupiah depreciation.

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A new report shows Indonesia lacks behind its regional peers in terms of innovation. This is a concern because it means Indonesia's workforce is not equipped with the skills, knowledge or health that are necessary to be innovation-driven. Therefore, the Indonesian government needs to remain focused on enhancing the quality of education and healthcare. Innovation is widely regarded as a driver of economic growth and development.

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Exports of pharmaceutical products from Indonesia have declined due to increasing competition from China on the international market. Chinese pharmaceutical companies dominate export markets supported by China's low production cost environment and the availability of raw materials at home. However, despite this situation, the Indonesian Pharmacy Association (GP Farmasi Indonesia) remains optimistic that Indonesia's pharmaceutical exports can climb in 2017.

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State-controlled pharmaceutical company Kimia Farma is expected to show steadily improving corporate earnings in the years ahead supported by Indonesia's universal healthcare scheme (in Indonesian: Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional or JKN) that was implemented by the social security agency Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial Kesehatan (BPJS) in early 2014. The scheme aims to provide all Indonesian citizens with access to a wide range of health services. Obviously, local pharmaceutical companies are in a great position to benefit from this program.

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Although Indonesia's National Health Insurance program is not without problems, it does benefit Indonesian hospitals and makes investment in the nation's hospital sector attractive, particularly as the Indonesian government targets to provide universal health care to all Indonesians by the year 2019. Reportedly, those hospitals that receive patients that fall under Indonesia's Healthcare and Social Security Agency (Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial, or BPJS Kesehatan) are the busiest hospitals in Indonesia at the moment.

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Companies active in the pharmaceutical industry of Indonesia need to find strategies to overcome sharp rupiah depreciation. Indonesia’s pharmaceutical industry is still - to a large extent - dependent on the import of raw materials, hence a weakening rupiah raises the costs of imports thus eroding profit margins. Since May 2013, when the US Federal Reserve started to hint at monetary tightening, the US dollar has experienced bullish momentum. Between the May 2013 and July 2015, the rupiah depreciated around 37 percent against the US dollar.

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A new World Bank report, entitled “The Double Burden of Malnutrition in Indonesia”, says that 37.2 percent of Indonesian children under the age of five - or 8.4 million children - are stunted (meaning excessively small for their age) and suffer from chronic malnutrition. As such, Indonesia has the fifth-highest level of stunting in the world. The report also states that 19.6 percent of Indonesian children under five years old (approximately 4.4 million) are underweight as a result of malnutrition. Public awareness about this issue is low in Indonesia.

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