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| Cao Minh Quang (R ), deputy minister of health, chats with Indian businessmen at a tea break during the seminar on Vietnam’s pharmaceutical industry - Photo: Dao Loan |
Deputy Minister of Health Cao Minh Quang told a seminar held in HCMC that India was most active in the Vietnamese pharmaceutical market with up to 128 firms having gained licenses to do business here.
Furthermore, the number of valid circulation visas given to Indian drugs also accounts for the largest number with over 4,500 products, or 37.8% of the total number of foreign drugs, far higher than the second position held by South Korea with over 19%.
“Indian firms have played a big part in Vietnam’s pharmaceutical market,” Quang told the seminar “Existing and Future Prospects in Vietnam’s Pharmaceutical Industry” organized by the Indian Business Chamber in Vietnam.
But the deputy minister noted that Indian drug firms engaged in trading only while ignoring the manufacturing segment in Vietnam. He urged Indian firms to take a bolder approach to expand their business activities in Vietnam.
“Only one Indian company has set up a manufacturing plant in Vietnam, but now the plant, named Ranbaxy, has already been acquired by ICA and thus it is no longer a foreign direct investment enterprise,” Quang said.
Quang said the local industry still had opportunities for investors to grasp regarding production of raw materials and hi-tech pharmaceutical products, which is the strength of Indian enterprises.
Vietnam’s pharmaceutical industry is in need of investment, including in medication packaging materials, equipments, herbal medicines, and other related services, according to Quang.
“That’s an opportunity. Let us think about this. We will give very good conditions to those companies wanting to invest in the production of hi-tech pharmaceutical products. It’s a priority investment sector,” he said.
Indian entrepreneurs at the seminar said they were interested not only in selling drugs but also in other business segments like infrastructure for the industry. The Ministry of Health should work closer with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to bring out better policies to help the investors develop their projects in the country, said a participant.
“Indian enterprises can invest in infrastructure, technology transfer for manufacturing advanced drugs, collaboration for the manufacturing of vaccines and bio-products, and others,” said Kailash Patki, country manager of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd.
According to Abhay Thakur, Indian consul general in HCMC, Indian pharmaceutical export to Vietnam last year amounted to US$193 million.
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