Bangladesh can halve ASEAN medication costs, industry leader says in Bangkok Expo

A Bangladesh pharmaceutical industry leader has sought entry into the Southeast Asian market, saying they can cut medication costs in ASEAN countries by half with “high-quality” products.

Nurul Islam Hasibfrom Bangkokbdnews24.com
Published : 31 May 2016, 11:51 AM
Updated : 31 May 2016, 12:10 PM

“We’ll soon become a major hub for high-quality, low-cost generic product for the world,” Abdul Muktadir, an adviser to the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries, said at the Bangladesh Expo in Bangkok on Tuesday.

Muktadir, who is also the Managing Director of Bangladesh’s leading company, Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd, lamented that while Bangladesh exported drugs to the highly regulated markets of Europe and America, neighbouring Southeast Asia was unaware of such developments.

“We had once faced problems in Myanmar. They didn’t believe our products. But when we showed them that our products are flooding European and American markets, then they started believing,” he said.

The three-day Bangladesh Expo was organised to showcase the country’s capabilities for Thailand, a country Dhaka considers to be the gateway to the ASEAN economy.

Ten countries -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam – having a total population of over 600 million people are the member of the ASEAN, now under a global focus for its integrated market.

Muktadir said because of the LDC privilege, “only US, EU, China and India have as much capabilities as we have”.

But he said Bangladeshi products would be much cheaper compared to theirs.

“We can produce every generic product of a high-quality,” he said, adding that Bangladeshi companies have certification from the highly regulated markets like the EU, USFDA, and Australia.

He said 10 companies were exporting to the European markets, while another 10 would be registered by 2018.

“We are the only country in the world that could supply 16 million cholera vaccines a year to the global market.

“Turkey, Iran and Pakistan sought our technical assistance to produce insulin,” he said, citing examples of Bangladesh’s capabilities.

“But our biggest problem is to get into the Southeast Asian market,” he said, adding that “we need a single entry into the ASEAN region”.

“We can reduce the cost of medication by half for the ASEAN people. This is achievable.”

Bangladesh Ambassador to Thailand Saida Muna Tasneem said Bangladesh was lobbying hard to become an ASEAN dialogue partner. But there is a current moratorium on the admission of new partners.

She said pharmaceuticals were her thrust area of export promotion.

Managing Director of the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation of Thailand Nopporn Cheankiln welcomed Bangladeshi pharmaceutical companies to the Thai market, saying they import drugs based on certain criteria.

Suchitra Maria Chivarangkul, international marketing of Atlantic Laboratories Corp Ltd told bdnews24.com she was looking for collaboration in malaria drug manufacture for supplying to countries in Africa.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, who chaired the session, said Bangladesh “definitely has a huge success story to tell both in the pharmaceuticals and RMG sector.”

At the same time, he added, “we also believe there is much to learn from the Thai experience as a growing middle income country”.

He appealed to Thai investors to start businesses in Bangladesh, ‘the most competitive’ foreign direct investment destination in Asia.

So far, Thai investors have out money amounting to $605 million in 96 projects in Bangladesh including poultry, fish meal, electronics and power generation.

Charoen Pokphand, commonly known as CP, has invested in Bangladesh's food-processing industry while Italian-Thai Development in the infrastructure sector, including the Dhaka Elevated Expressway.