Daewoong Pharmaceutical Accelerates Push into Indonesia's Halal Market, Says It Is Moving to Build a Production Hub

[Financial News] Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is stepping up its push into the Indonesian market by proactively responding to Indonesia's mandatory halal certification requirements. The company plans to use government export support to strengthen its ability to respond to local regulations, while also developing Indonesia into a production base for expansion into the ASEAN market. Daewoong Pharmaceutical said on the 25th that it recently joined the government's 'public-private support team for companies entering Indonesia' and attended a 'meeting with companies entering Indonesia' hosted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Jakarta last month.
At the meeting, officials from Indonesia's National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) and the Halal Product Assurance Organizing Agency (BPJPH) shared the direction of local regulations, including import clearance requirements, ingredient safety reviews, halal labeling, and the timetable for mandatory implementation.
In particular, the two sides reaffirmed that under the halal certification mutual recognition agreement (MRA) between Korea and Indonesia, halal certificates issued by institutions that have signed the MRA will have the same effect after local registration.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety also raised concerns from domestic companies with the Indonesian side, including ways to reduce the burden of on-site inspections for already certified factories and to extend grace periods for existing distributed products.
Based on this, Daewoong Pharmaceutical plans to take a phased approach to halal compliance across product categories, from cosmetics and health functional foods to pharmaceuticals.
In particular, it is building the 'Cikarang Solid Dosage Smart Factory' with a target of GMP approval in July 2027, well ahead of October 2034, when halal certification for prescription drugs becomes mandatory. The company plans to design and build the production facility with halal certification in mind from the outset and use it as a production base in Indonesia.
Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous country and the largest market in ASEAN, is considered a key destination for Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies, given the size of its halal consumer market. Daewoong Pharmaceutical's strategy is to build a production hub based on its Cikarang plant that can target not only the Indonesian market but also the halal market across ASEAN.
Lee So-yoon, head of Daewoong Pharmaceutical's Regulatory and Patent Center, said, "In line with the government's active export support policy, we will raise the standing of K-pharma and biotech in the ASEAN market by leveraging our unmatched manufacturing and import infrastructure and our halal management capabilities."
[email protected] Kang Jung-mo Reporter