Bisnis.com, JAKARTA - The government must respond to the flood of imports of medical device products (alkes) by increasing the import tariff for these goods.The Directorate General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance recorded that the import value of vaccines and medical devices for the period January 1 to June 3, 2022 was Rp 4.94 trillion.Health equipment imported from abroad in the form of drugs, PCR, oxygen or oxygen cylinders, and respiratory therapy devices such as oxygen concentrators, generators, and ventilators.Economist of the Center of Reform on Economics (Core) Indonesia Muhammad Faisal said that domestic producers are actually capable of making these imported products.However, in terms of price is less competitive.“Many domestic products can be produced domestically, with sufficient capacity.Only problem is the competitive price.So it means that what is needed is regulatory policies that encourage incentives so that domestic industries can be more competitive," said Faisal when contacted, Monday (8/8/2022).He said the medical equipment market in Indonesia has huge potential.Therefore, he said, the policy must be comprehensive from upstream to downstream.In addition, from a trade perspective, the government must protect domestic industries.“From the trade side, in order for this industry to grow, there must be a policy of imposing higher import tariffs for similar products.So, it is necessary to first identify what medical products can be produced domestically.So it has to be mapped first,” he said.The enforcement, continued Faisal, is not permanent.But only in a transition period when the domestic medical equipment industry is able to compete."So, if it has developed, it will automatically increase its business scale and competitiveness, only then can the trade policy be normalized again," he said.According to Faisal, efforts to protect the medical equipment industry are also an effort so that Indonesia is not vulnerable to external shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic."Yesterday's pandemic conditions have also become more or less a momentum to finally encourage domestic producers to make their own medical devices," he said.Check other News and Articles on Google NewsCheck out other news about the topic of this article, here:Join and get analysis of economic and business information via your email.