Yogyakarta- UGM Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is currently developing education and research concept on ecohealth in managing infectious diseases from animals to human due to ecological factors. This is marked with the establishment of Zoonotic Disease Center (ZDC). “We want to spread this concept to community by inviting stakeholders,” said zoonotic researcher of the Faculty, Prof. Dr. drh. Wayan Tunas Artama, after following Ecozoonotic Disease Workshop at the campus, Thursday (13/1).
“From the survey, we see a trend of declining market share for our products, as more consumers prefer buying products imported from China,” he told reporters at a press briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The survey revealed most traders preferred selling Chinese products instead of domestically-made ones because their profits rose by around 20 percent, he added.
“This negative trend caused several sensitive industries to experience production declines last year,” Agus said.
Most consumers bought Chinese products for their cheap prices, unique and creative designs and functionality, although they admitted that the products were not very durable, according to the survey.
Conducted in 11 major Indonesian cities, Medan in North Sumatra, Padang in West Sumatra, Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, Semarang in Central Java, Surabaya in East Java and Makassar in South Sulawesi, the survey focused on the five most-affected industrial sectors: textiles, furniture, metals, machinery and electronics.
From the data, the ministry concluded that implementing the ACFTA caused an increase in raw material imports, decrease in domestic product sales, decline in producers’ profits and declining employment.
Agus said the main reasons why Indonesian products were less competitive than Chinese products were expensive raw materials, unstable and high energy prices and limited access to capital.
In several countries, ecohealth development concept has been developed by involving cooperation between universities with various disciplines. “We want the same practice to be implemented at UGM,” he said.
The Ecozoonotic Disease Workshop from 11-13 January 2011 in Faculty of Veterinary Medicine UGM is a cooperation between the Faculty with International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The workshop invited several experts from Canada, Thailand and Vietnam.