Sixty Indian pharmaceutical companies
are in Lagos to do business and are displaying India’s latest range of
pharmaceutical products including bulk-drugs, formulations, biotech
products, herbals, etc., at an Indian Pharmaceutical Exhibition cum
buyer-seller Meet holding today and tomorrow at the Federal Palace
Hotel, Lagos.
According to a statement from the Indian
High Commission in Nigeria, the exhibition is being organised for the
third time in Nigeria by India’s Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion
Council (Pharmacil) in association with the High Commission of India in
Nigeria. The exhibition will be jointly inaugurated by Paul Orhii,
director-general of Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drugs
Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Mahesh Sachdev, High Commission
of India in Nigeria.
The event, according to the statement,
“is expected to provide a unique opportunity to pharmaceutical
stakeholders in Nigeria and neighbouring West Africa countries to meet
their India counterparts to discourse procurements, joint ventures,
technology transfer and marketing tie-ups, etc.”
Over 700 pharma buyers attended the expo in Nigeria in March 2011.
India medicines have long been present
in Nigeria and India has traditionally been the largest source of
medicines to Nigeria, supplying over a third of the market. Indian
pharma products’ popularity is based on “their efficacy and competitive
prices”. There are more than 30 India pharma companies located in Lagos
alone and engaged in manufacturing and/or importing Indian products.
India exported drugs, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals to Nigeria
worth US$307.60 million in year ending March 31, 2012, having risen by
37 percent over the previous year.
The Indian High Commission statement
said: “India is working with NAFDAC and other Nigeria agencies to
protect, promote, and diversify Nigerian pharmaceutical market. The two
countries signed an MOU on cooperation in pharmaceutical sector in March
2011. They have intensified collaboration to prevent
anti-counterfeiting of Indian pharmaceuticals. Today’s event is expected
to boost bilateral cooperation in this vital sector even further.”
India is world largest producer of
pharmaceuticals by volume. Annual turnover of Indian pharmaceutical
industry estimated at over US$20 million in domestic prices, which are
significantly lower than global prices. With the industry growing at 13
percent annually, the turnover is expected to grow five-fold by 2020.
India’s global pharma export are expected to be around US$14 billion
in year ending March 31, 2013, up nearly 25 percent over last year.
While Indian pharmaceutical industry is
famous for genetics, it is also making fast inroads into branded
products, especially, biotechnology. According to the President of
Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Osahon Enabulele, over 5,000 Nigerian
citizens fly out on a monthly basis, seeking medical treatment in India
and other countries. Nigeria is thus spending over US$500 million
annually, with India alone getting about US$260 million of this amount.
Buoyed by the boom of its medical tourism due ostensibly to Nigerians’
patronage, India’s projection for the year is to realize a whooping sum
of between US$1bn and US$2bn from a medical tourism market worth over
US$20bn.
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