Robust medicine export to be next thrust sector

block
Monirul Islam :
Earning from Bangladesh medicine export recorded 29.69 percent rise in the FY2017 compared to the previous year. The country earned Tk31.96 billion from drug export to 142 countries in 2017. The quantity of drug export and the number of countries is gradually increasing.
In 2016, the country earned Tk 22.47 billion from medicine export to 127 countries in the world while BDT 8.12 billion was earned from drugs export to 120 countries in 2015.
In 2014 Bangladesh earned 7.33 billion by exporting drugs 92 countries including Europe and America. At present countries 98 percent local demand for medicine is met through domestic production. After independence, the country’s medicine sector was entirely imported- dependent and people had to buy drugs at a higher price.
The growth of pharmaceutical industries of Bangladesh is remarkable and there are a lot of potentials. The population of Bangladesh is increasing and by 2036, about 25 percent of Bangladesh population will be over 50 years.
Bangladesh pharma industry has made tremendous strides over the decade and the domestic market has almost doubled during 2011-16. In this regard, we can highlight about the increasing demand of “wellness” drugs, vaccines, medical devices and so on.
So there is no hindrance, one can reasonably expect this industry to grow at 15 percent for the next 5 years backed by solid fundamentals. In the long run, however the industry is likely to enjoy a material shift from existing growth trajectory and grow at unprecedented pace. It would be unsurprising if the Bangladesh pharmaceuticals industry takes a similar route of Indian pharmaceutical industry.
Indian pharma exports were less than $600 million in 1995 that eventually grew 30 times in the next 20 years and reached $ 16.9 billion, accounting for 46.7 percent of the industry turnover.
Investing in and developing health care related infrastructure will play a crucial role for transformation of the industry, and sweeping changes throughout the value chain will enable the industry to penetrate global market. We believe that Bangladesh pharma industry has the potential to evolve as a world leader in producing high quality generic drugs and become the next THURST sector after RMG (Ready Made Garments).
block