Pakistani companies are looking at the $7 billion pharmaceutical market in Central Asia
Karobar
Pakistani pharmaceutical company’s representatives held sideline meetings with health ministers and delegations of foreign countries who were attending the first-ever two-day Global Health Summit held in Islamabad this week.
In one of the bilateral meetings on the sidelines, the Health Minister of Kyrgyzstan, Alymkadyr Beishenaliev met several Pakistani pharmaceutical representatives and showed interest in importing Pakistani medicines in a $650 million pharmaceutical market of Kyrgyzstan’s 7 million population. He also informed local manufacturers that the new government policy would only allow state-owned pharmacies in government-run hospitals to provide affordable and quality medicines in his country.
Dr Yasir Shirazi, the seasoned Pakistani pharmaceutical professional of the Central Asian Region (CAR), told The Nation that this is a big opportunity for local manufacturers not only to export medicines but also technology to the CAR region which is approximately $7 billion pharmaceutical market and don’t produce local medicines. Dr. Shirazi further said Pakistan has 250 million population and our pharmaceutical market is $1.2 billion.
Dr Sherazi also gave proposals to the Kyrgyz Health Minister to facilitate visa policy for Pakistani business community and to start an expert exchange program including doctors and pharmaceutical experts to cope with high relevance diseases in both countries such as diabetes, liver and heart diseases patterns and treatment. Nayyar Bukhari, a local manufacturer, told The Nation that CAR is 96 to 97% dependent on foreign medicines. Pakistani manufacturers are doing well in the region having tough competition from other countries. Pakistani government should also make manufacturer-friendly policies to increase exports of the country.
Beishenaliev also talked about creating global safety mechanisms in the post-COVID era across the countries. He emphasized the being and facilitation of 12,000 Pakistani students who are studying in Government and private medical universities in Kyrgyzstan. Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) facilitated meetings of local pharmaceutical companies with the visiting delegations.
