Indonesia to import 50 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from China, SOEs Minister: It is technology transfer

Last updated on May 17th, 2021 at 11:43 am

PT Bio Farma (Persero) will receive 50 million doses of the Covid-19 Ready to Fill (RTF) vaccine bulk or concentrate from the Chinese biopharmaceutical company, Sinovac from November 2020 to March 2021.

This assurance was marked by the signing of the Preliminary Agreement of Purchase and Supply of Bulk Production of Covid-19 Vaccine, which was held in Hainan, China on August 20, 2020.

The Minister of SOEs and the Chief Executive of the Committee for Handling Covid-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPEN), Erick Thohir, said that in the agreement Bio Farma does not only process and distribute, but also includes technology transfer elements.

“Biofarma, working with Sinovac, is win-win cooperation. Bio Farma is not a tailor, there is an agreement with Sinovac called knowledge transfer, technology transfer. This needs to be underlined,” said Erick in an official statement received in Jakarta, Thursday, August 21.

Erick said the SOEs Ministry did not want Indonesia to be a consumptive country forever. Therefore, this transfer of technology and knowledge can make Indonesia more independent in the future, including the production of the coronavirus vaccine.

International cooperation in the field of vaccines, continued Erick, has become one of the government’s efforts to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, including conducting 3T (test, trace, treat), encouraging behavior change.

In addition, preparing national independence through the development of Merah Putih vaccine and healing therapy, to preparing domestic production and distribution capacities for mass production and vaccination.

“While waiting for the Merah Putih vaccine, vaccines from other countries are still needed to protect Indonesian people so that ‘Health Recovers, Economy Rises’,” he added.

Previously, Erick Thohir said that the target of giving the Covid-19 vaccine to the public in early 2021 was a quick win for the government.

Related Article: https://www.theasianaffairs.com/indonesia/2020/08/15/bio-farma-states-merah-putih-vaccine-for-long-term-sinovac-for-short-term-dpr-member-asks-for-halalness-status-of-vaccine-from-china/