Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Indonesian government on Tuesday (Nov 24) announced a commitment to contribute 1 million U.S. dollars to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

The commitment was confirmed by a document signed by the Secretary General of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cecep Herawan, in Jakarta, and CEPI’s CEO Richard Hatchett in London, England, and was witnessed by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

The 1 million U.S. dollar contribution will support CEPI's efforts to develop vaccines for various infectious diseases with pandemic potentials.

In her remarks, Foreign Minister Retno emphasized that the cooperation between Indonesia and CEPI has long-term strategic goals.

According to her, there are two important points in the collaboration.

First, the collaboration allows Indonesia to make a real contribution to multilateral efforts to develop vaccines for infectious diseases.

Indonesia always promotes fair and equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine for everyone at an affordable price, Retno said.

Second, cooperation with CEPI will strengthen Indonesia’s health industry and enhance national health resilience, as well as the country’s ability to respond to future pandemics.

Through the CEPI mechanism, the Indonesian health industry will gain access to the latest information and knowledge related to vaccine research and development to support the national capacity and improve the technology platform and vaccine production.

The collaboration also provides an opportunity for the Indonesian pharmaceutical industry to become an important player in the global vaccine network.

CEPI has chosen Bio Farma to be one of the partners for the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer once the due diligence on the company has shown positive results.

Meanwhile, Richard Hatchett asserted that vaccines are one of the most important instruments in fighting diseases today and in the future.

With Indonesia's knowledge and experience in vaccine development and manufacturing so far, CEPI would work together to achieve the common goal in developing safe, effective and globally accessible vaccines, while at the same time preparing to respond to the threat of another pandemic in the future, Hatchett said.

Reporting by Indonesia Window