80 delegates from 19 countries participate in the meet
Usha Sharma – Ahmedabad
Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), set up by Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India inaugurated three-day International Pharma Business Meet and Exhibition in Ahmedabad coinciding with Vibrant Gujarat 2015. There are 80 delegates from 19 countries; Afghanistan, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Uganda, Vietnam, Armenia, Georgia, Mozambique, Paraguay, Spain, Sri Lanka, Russia, Tanzania, Turkey, Zimbabwe etc.
Ashutosh Gupta, Chairman, Pharmexcil welcomed the delegates and delivered an address on the success of the Indian pharma industry. He also highlighted the industry’s capabilities in delivering affordable medicines to all therapeutic categories.
While addressing a large delegation from Afghanistan, he mentioned that presently Indian pharma companies export nearly $48 million worth of medicines to Afghanistan, and have plans to increase this to $500 million in the next three years.
Dr Hemant Koshia, Commissioner, Gujarat FDA gave a brief on Gujarat State FDCA’s functioning and assured participants that quality parameters across the state have been maintained by the state drug regulators and medicines delivered to end consumers are safe.
Anil Kumar Singh, Joint Director General of Foreign Trade- Gujarat, Ministry of Commerce and Industry Government of India expressed his views and mentioned, “If regulations are communicated rightly, then it becomes easy to follow procedures. I have created awareness about the regulatory framework in the state which helps pharma companies understand basic regulatory requirements. Initially my office used to be known for ‘redtape’ which now converted into the ‘greentape’.
Idriss Raoua Ouedraogo, Ambassador, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Burkina Faso, New Delhi said, “Today, 80 per cent of our generics are imported from Indian pharma companies. We see Indian companies are capable of delivering their commitments with quality. In the past we imported a major portion of medicines from Europe and other developed markets. Later we switched to India and realised that the quality is almost similar and less expensive as well.”
Commenting on the efforts of the Pharmexcil, he said, “Pharmexcil has developed a pharma world and through this type of meetings, creates a platform to meet global pharma players at a single platform with better focus. This creates opportunities for interaction in a larger perspective.”
Nicolae Banicioiu, Minister of Health, Government of Romania shared his knowledge related to the Indian pharma companies’ presence in the Romania. He mentioned India and Romania were celebrating the success of the 66th inter bilateral business pact this year and assured that it would continue smoothly in the coming years as well. “Romania is an open market and it could be a better gate for Indian companies to enter Europe through Romania”, opined Banicioiu.
Raghuveer Kini, Executive Director, Pharmexcil delivered the vote of thanks and wished all the delegates success in their business endeavours at the meet.