Bangladesh looking forward to boosting Philippine pharmaceutical industry

MANILA, Philippines — Bangladesh is looking forward to helping the Philippines strengthen its pharmaceutical industry, its envoy said Friday after a meeting with President-elect Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

Borhan Uddin, Bangladesh ambassador to the Philippines, said he and Marcos talked about enhancing Manila and Dhaka’s cooperation on the pharmaceutical sector.

“We have a very booming pharmaceutical sector in Bangladesh,” Uddin said, adding that the South Asian country exports medicines to over 140 nations.

“So we are hoping to enhance our cooperation in this sector also. And maybe, there will be some investment from Bangladesh in the Philippines in this sector,” he added.

The envoy also said that Bangladesh is looking forward to working with the Philippines in boosting the domestic manufacturing of generic medicines.

“We are working on it and hopefully we will do it,” he said.

Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran earlier said that India is also hoping to help the Philippines strengthen its local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity.

The government is expecting that the Philippines will become a more attractive market for pharmaceutical firms. The Board of Investments said it would support a roadmap to strengthen the local pharmaceutical industry and increase exports, the Philippine News Agency reported.

Joint cooperation on agriculture, ceramics and glass fiber was also discussed in the meeting with Marcos, Uddin said.— Gaea Katreena Cabico