Bangladesh now selling medicine to RP

MANILA, Philippines - Bangladesh used to be associated with extreme poverty, but it now has its own pharmaceutical industry, and is trying to cut into the low-priced medicine market dominated by India.

And it wants to sell medicine to the Philippines.  

Yesterday, the major trade bodies of Bangladesh opened the three-day “Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Expo 2010” at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City to showcase its products that may compete with those from India.

S.M. Shafiuzzaman, former president of the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI), said Filipino consumers would benefit more if they patronize medicine from Bangladesh.

“The Filipino people buy very high priced medicine. We can also sell the same products with the same quality at a price that is one-fourth lower,” he said.                            

There are some 10,000 drugs manufactured in Bangladesh.   Bangladeshi pharmaceutical firms ventured into the Philippines five years ago. There are now five Bangladeshi firms in the country selling medicine for hypertension, diabetes, asthma, high cholesterol, as well as antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and pain relievers.

Shafiuzzaman said the pharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in Bangladesh. There are now 250 pharmaceutical firms in the South Asian country with a population of 160 million. 

He said local companies supply 97 percent of their pharmaceutical needs.

Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral said investments from Bangladeshi companies could bring down medicine cost in the country because Filipino firms would have to compete with them.

Cabral said the Bangladeshi pharmaceutical industry “could help our government fulfill its mandate to the Filipino people of providing greater access to cheap and quality medicine.”