Indonesian govt to digitise medicine supply chain

 

The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) signed a memorandum of understanding with Australian PNORS Technology Group on Thursday. The agreement includes a pilot project, capacity building and technological partnership.

“The automation of the medical supply chain can eliminate problems like running out of stock, expired medicines, and fake medicines, which happened recently here,” PNORS Group CEO Paul Gallo told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Friday.

In Australia, supply chain digitisation has reduced costs by 52 per cent and eliminated at least three links from the supply chain. Puskesmas or hospitals will be able to order medicines through a system that is connected with suppliers.

“You also save the environment as you do not need paper anymore,” Gallo added.

The pilot project is expected to be evaluated after three months but digitising all of Indonesia may take up to nine years as there are 9,700 puskesmas and 2,500 hospitals throughout the country. – The Jakarta Post/ANN

 

Middle East tourists, |fewer in numbers, but biggest spenders

Tourists from the Middle East are said to spend more money when travelling to Indonesia compared to other countries. 

“Travel spending of Middle Eastern tourists is higher [compared to Asian and European visitors] despite being lower in arrival numbers,” said halal tourism acceleration and development head Riyanto Sofyan in Jakarta on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com. 

According to the Tourism Ministry’s data, foreign tourists from Middle Eastern countries spent an average of US$1,750 per visit/person, with those hailing from United Arab Emirates spending $1,500 on average. Meanwhile, the average travel spending of visitors from Asian countries is $1,200. “Middle Eastern tourists mostly enjoy shopping, natural and cultural attractions, the beach and sightseeing while in Indonesia. Many also travel to the Puncak area in West Java,” said Riyanto.

The government is currently targeting the halal tourism market, particularly for countries in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait. “Around 600,000 Middle Eastern tourists travelled to Thailand and over 400,000 visited Malaysia. Meanwhile, Indonesia welcomed around 200,000 of them,” Riyanto added.

The potential of halal tourism is high due to the many airlines offering flights from the Middle East to Indonesia, including Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways. Tourism Minister Arief Yahya previously stated that this particular market was highly significant since of the 6.8 billion of people in the world, around 1.6 billion are Muslim of which 60 per cent are under the age of 30. |– The Jakarta Post/ANN

 

Alfamart targets 400 stores in Philippines next year

Mini-market chain Alfamart aims to increase the number of its outlets in the Philippines from the current 185 to 400 next year and add one distribution point to complement the existing one in Greater Manila.

The company expanded into the Philippines in 2014, teaming up with local company SM Investments Corporation.

“We expect to reach break-even point by the middle of 2017, after three and half years of investment,” Alfa Group chairman Djoko Santoso said after an AlfaLand press conference at the Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta on Friday.

He said the business climate in the Philippines was good and processing licences and arranging land acquisition were easy there. After 2017, the company will be more aggressive by doubling the number of its stores every year. “After five years of investment, we want to have at least 5,000 stores in the Philippines,” he said. – The Jakarta Post/ANN