UAE, Indonesia Collaborate to Develop a Covid-19 Vaccine

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – State-owned Indonesian pharmaceutical companies Kimia Farma and Indo Farma have signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with their United Arab Emirates counterpart G42 Healthcare Holdings to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and State Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir witnessed the signing on August 22 in Abu Dhabi during their working visit to the Emirates.

“The memorandum of understanding [between Kimia Farma and G42 Healthcare Holdings] encompassed the research and development, clinical tests, as well as the production of a vaccine and its marketing and distribution,” said Retno.

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“G42 is also committed to provide 10 million doses [of the Covid-19 vaccine] for the rest of 2020. The deal [between Kimia Farma and G42] also covered pharmaceuticals and health services.”

For its part, Indo Farma also signed MoUs with G42 Healthcare Holdings on curbing the spread of corona virus. “[Indofarma] will use laser-based technology and artificial intelligence to trace Covid-19 cases,” Retno said.

“We hope this technology will enable quicker tracing of Covid-19 and other diseases. We also hope [the agreements with G42] will help the export of Indonesian pharmaceutical products to markets in the the Middle East, Africa and other regions.”

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Retno and Erick also touched on energy and food supplies with their UAE counterparts Abdullah bin Zayed and Suhail al-Mazroui.

“We negotiated with the UAE to develop projects like the floating solar power station at Cirata Reservoir in West Java, which will be built in June 2021 and will be operational by 2022. We also seek the UAE’s investment in the agro-business sector in Subang, West Java.”

The UAE has bought 20 tons of health products like masks, gloves and hand sanitizers from Indonesia last April. The country also imported 30 tons of products from Indonesian micro, small and medium enterprises like fresh fruits and vegetables, and dry foods. 

(Writer: Ardito Ramadhan | Editor: Bayu Galih)

Sources: 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/08/23/07120011/kimia-farma-dan-perusahaan-uea-kerja-sama-pengembangan-vaksin-covid-19. 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/08/23/06201651/indonesia-dan-uea-bahas-kerja-sama-terkait-covid-19-hingga-energi-dan-pangan.