Indonesia plans to be regional vaccine hub
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has submitted a proposal to turn Indonesia into a vaccine hub for Southeast Asia during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The move is seen as part of long-term vaccine cooperation, Antara News agency quoted her as saying during a press conference in WuYi, Fujian province, China.
She was in the province on a working visit with State-owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir and Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi. The three ministers attended 14 meetings on various issues, such as increased trade and investment activities, as well as consular cooperation, besides vaccine cooperation.
“This idea is in its early stage, but what we are proposing includes cooperation to strengthen vaccine development research, develop raw material industries and increase national vaccine production capacity,” she said on Friday.
Retno discussed the proposal with Wang during talks on strengthening vaccine partnership for the long and short term.
The two nations would hold further discussions on long-term vaccine cooperation, but China had expressed support for the Indonesian initiative, she added.
During the meeting, Indonesia also expressed hope that the Chinese government would continue to provide support so that the vaccines deliveries, which have become a binding commitment, could be carried out according to the agreed schedule.
“We discussed strengthening vaccine cooperation directly with vaccine producers in China,” added Retno.
Presently, vaccine-producing countries have imposed export restrictions and bans on the grounds of meeting domestic needs as several countries are facing a spike in cases.
The restrictions are affecting the global supply chain rate of the vaccines, she said, expressing concerns about the impact of the vaccine supply slowdown amid the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Therefore, as one of the cochairs of the COVAX AMC Engagement Group, I have a moral responsibility to continue to call for cooperation so that equal access to vaccines for all countries can be realised.”