Visiting Indian pharmaceutical firms seek local partners

Seventeen Indian pharmaceutical enterprises yesterday met with HCM City partners during a trade-exchange programme to seek more opportunities in the field.

The companies produce a wide range of pharmaceutical goods, including functional food and veterinary medicine.

Pharmaceuticals are one of the major products that India exports to Viet Nam.

Two-way trade between the two countries was more than US$2 billion in 2009, with an annual growth of 20 per cent.

From 2008-10, the Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry increased turnover by 12 per cent annually.

Last year, the industry sold around $700 million of drugs on the local market. The rest, which amounted to 50 per cent of sales, was imported medicine.

Viet Nam also exported $40 million worth of drugs last year, an increase of 20 per cent compared to 2008.

However, the local pharmaceutical industry is expected to continue to produce only basic medicines, and will not manufacture specialised drugs for heart or cancer diseases.

Most of the raw materials are imported from China (25 per cent) and India (21 per cent).

Last year, Viet Nam spent $1.17 billion on imported medicines.

Demand for medicine per capita increased from $6 in 2001 to $16.5 in 2008, and is expected to reach to $25 in 2015. — VNS

Tags: India pharmaceutical industry