Pharmaceutical company Merck is counting on Indonesia’s huge population and accelerating economy to expand its chemical business, a top executive said in Jakarta. Annual sales are expected to grow by 13 to 18 percent next year, after posting double-digit growth in the past few years, said Martin Feulner, director of the chemical division at Merck Indonesia. Merck is a listed company on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and controlled by German-based Merck, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Its chemical division produces specialty products, like reagents and instruments for laboratory usage, and pigments for the production of plastic, paints, cosmetics, and printing. “Indonesia sales are around 30 million euros compared to over 5 billion euros worldwide. It’s small,” Feulner said, referring only to sales of the company’s chemical division. “But Indonesia is one of the countries with the best opportunities, besides Mexico, Turkey and Russia. Indonesia, in the next few years, can move into the ranks of India and China.” Merck’s chemical sales in China reached around 100 million euros in 2011 and in India around 90 million euros, according to Merck’s annual report.
