Economic Reporter :
Leaders of the Bangladesh Aushad Shilpa Samity (BASS) and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers said that Country’s pharmaceutical exports may reach to $1bn annually by 2020 if the maximum approval time of raw material imports is reduced to 30 days from 75 days now as per the government pledge.
The leaders were speaking about the problems and potentiality of the sector at a views exchange meeting with Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) and Directorate of Drug Administration (DDA) in the city recently.
DDA Directorate General Maj Gen Md Mustafizur Rahman and Director General of DNC Khandakar Rakibur Rahman were present at the meeting.
“Manufacturers fail to supply products to buyers in time as it takes 75 days to get approval for raw material imports,” said Khandakar Rakibur Rahman. “This is causing loss of acceptability of producers to buyers. That’s why we have decided to speed up the approval process and we are doing this by February.”
He said: “We will go online to further speed up the process.”
Managing Director of Incepta Pharmaceuticals Abdul Muktadir lauded the initiative and said this would be a great achievement if the import approval time decreased to 30 days as it would help the business expand faster.
He hoped with the initiative implemented, the pharmaceutical products export could reach $1bn by 2020 and $10bn by 2025.
“As we are exporting to emerging markets, our export is growing slowly. But once we enter the generic product market where prices are higher, the growth will be fast,” said Abdul Muktadir.
He said five Bangladeshi companies had already been registered in the UK and the US markets to export pharmaceutical products.
In the last fiscal year, the country’s pharmaceutical industry earned $73m from exports and in first half of the current fiscal year, the exports increased 17.22% to $43m compared to $36.76m a year ago.
Presently, there are some 250 pharmaceutical firms in the country meeting 97% of domestic demands and 30 companies exporting to 107 international destinations, especially the least developed countries.
In the $808 billion global pharmaceutical market in 2009, Bangladesh could grab a slice of only $47 million, according to the traders.
Leaders of the Bangladesh Aushad Shilpa Samity (BASS) and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers said that Country’s pharmaceutical exports may reach to $1bn annually by 2020 if the maximum approval time of raw material imports is reduced to 30 days from 75 days now as per the government pledge.
The leaders were speaking about the problems and potentiality of the sector at a views exchange meeting with Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) and Directorate of Drug Administration (DDA) in the city recently.
DDA Directorate General Maj Gen Md Mustafizur Rahman and Director General of DNC Khandakar Rakibur Rahman were present at the meeting.
“Manufacturers fail to supply products to buyers in time as it takes 75 days to get approval for raw material imports,” said Khandakar Rakibur Rahman. “This is causing loss of acceptability of producers to buyers. That’s why we have decided to speed up the approval process and we are doing this by February.”
He said: “We will go online to further speed up the process.”
Managing Director of Incepta Pharmaceuticals Abdul Muktadir lauded the initiative and said this would be a great achievement if the import approval time decreased to 30 days as it would help the business expand faster.
He hoped with the initiative implemented, the pharmaceutical products export could reach $1bn by 2020 and $10bn by 2025.
“As we are exporting to emerging markets, our export is growing slowly. But once we enter the generic product market where prices are higher, the growth will be fast,” said Abdul Muktadir.
He said five Bangladeshi companies had already been registered in the UK and the US markets to export pharmaceutical products.
In the last fiscal year, the country’s pharmaceutical industry earned $73m from exports and in first half of the current fiscal year, the exports increased 17.22% to $43m compared to $36.76m a year ago.
Presently, there are some 250 pharmaceutical firms in the country meeting 97% of domestic demands and 30 companies exporting to 107 international destinations, especially the least developed countries.
In the $808 billion global pharmaceutical market in 2009, Bangladesh could grab a slice of only $47 million, according to the traders.
