Indonesia's pharmaceutical industry estimates slight decline in growth

The growth of Indonesia's pharmaceutical industry in 2013 is projected to be not as strong as in last year due to expected rise in production cost, an industry leader said here Wednesday. The rising in electricity tariff and labor's minimum wage will lead to increase in production cost, which prompted companies to review their plan for business expansion, said Darojatun Sanusi, executive director of Association of Indonesian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. "The possibility of its expansion is not as strong as last year, and this will effect industrial growth," Darojatun said, quoted by Kontan, a business and investment media under the Kompas media group. He explained there are four national pharmaceutical companies which are currently reviewing their business expansion plans, including considering to reduce the investment expense or delaying the expansion plans. He predicted the pharmaceutical industry will grow by 12 percent to 13 percent in 2013, compared with 2012's around 14 to 15 percent. The sales of pharmaceutical products in the domestic market is predicted to reach 50 trillion rupiah (around 5.173 million U.S. dollars), a little higher than 47 trillion rupiah (around 4.865 million U.S. dollars) in 2012.