The Chinese IVD medical equipment and reagent manufacturer recently inaugurated its largest plant in Southeast Asia, located in Cikarang, West Java, with a total investment of US$10 million or approximately Rp157.4 billion.

Martin Marpaung, Country Manager of Virtue Diagnostics Indonesia, said that investments are dynamic and are expected to increase in response to the demand for medical equipment in Indonesia and abroad.

"We realize that many imported products, especially considering the case of Covid-19, highlight our reliance on imported products," Martin said on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.

He expressed optimism that national demand for medical equipment products, especially on immunology, hematology, and clinical chemistry reagents, is substantial both nationally and regionally. The new Virtue Diagnostics plant has a capacity of over 1,000 instrument units per year and 6,000 liters of reagents per day.

"We believe that our current capacity can eliminate dependency on imported reagents because our capacity is sufficient to meet 100 percent of national needs," Martin said.

On the other hand, Martin explained that both human resources and medical equipment products are still relatively scarce in Indonesia. Currently, the company has 60 competent employees in the IVD field.

"However, resources are sufficient, and we will have a Research & Development Center in Indonesia. This R&D center will develop products and human resources," he clarified.

Furthermore, he ensured that the domestic component level for the medical equipment products they produce has exceeded 40 percent for the time being.

The inauguration of the Virtue Diagnostics plant on Tuesday was attended by Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin and Acting Regent of Bekasi Dani Ramdan.