RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The Indonesian Food and Drug Authority (BPOM) and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) of the Republic of Singapore have officially strengthened their cooperation in the regulation of health products and pharmaceuticals through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Jakarta, Thursday, 15 January 2026. The MoU was signed by the Chairperson of BPOM, Taruna Ikrar, and the Chief Executive Officer of Singapore’s HSA, Adjunct Professor Dr. Raymond Chua.

The cooperation aims to facilitate bilateral collaboration as well as the exchange of information and expertise in the regulation of medicines, vaccines, and health products.

In his remarks, the Chairperson of the Food and Drug Authority (BPOM), Taruna Ikrar, stated that the MoU was the first of its kind and marked a historic moment. He expressed confidence that this historic step would open up many opportunities to move forward together and held great potential for cooperation that would bring mutual benefits to both countries.

“We know that this is the first time we signed an agreement, MOU, between Indonesia and Singapore, meaning we make history. So from this history, we believe a lot of things we want to move forward, to do collaboration for many things we can do to make mutual benefit from both of us, from both of our country,” Taruna Ikrar said

Meanwhile, HSA Singapore Chief Executive Officer Raymond Chua stated that this cooperation is very important, given the rapid development of the global pharmaceutical sector. He expressed hope that this collaboration would help position ASEAN as the first country of choice or the first region of choice for the pharmaceutical and health industries, alongside the United States and the European Union.

“Actually make ASEAN the first country of choice, or the first region of choice, besides just the US and the EU, for the industry, that actually would be a significant milestone that we can achieve,” Raymon said.