Asian pharmaceutical products dominate Myanmar market

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200903301021.htm


YANGON (Xinhua): Pharmaceutical products from Asian countries are dominating Myanmar's consumers market with India standing as the country's largest pharmaceutical products importing country, the local weekly Flower News reported Monday.

Accounting for 40 percent of Myanmar's pharmaceuticals import, India is followed by Bangladesh, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Commerce, Myanmar imported over 5,000 categories of pharmaceutical products annually.



In the fiscal year 2007-08, Myanmar imported pharmaceutical products worth of 115.56 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 15.5 percent from 2006-07, earlier statistics shows.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's largest and most modern pharmaceutical factory in the northern city of Pyin Oo Lwin was established in December 2007 producing 162 kinds of medicines.

With the aim of reducing import-substitute medicines, the Pyin Oo Lwin Pharmaceutical Factory under the Ministry of Industry-1, produce high-quality modern medicines such as tablet, capsule, intramuscular, intravenous, lotion and powder.

There has been some five other pharmaceutical factories in Myanmar, including two special ones, respectively located in Yangon, Sagaing and Inyaung.

These factories are producing medicines that supply 40 percent of the domestic market.

Moreover, a famous Myanmar private pharmaceutical company, FAME, will produce seasonal medicines for Japan and South Korea as proposed by the two countries.

FAME is known as the first private pharmaceutical factory in Myanmar whose products meet the stringent Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards set by the World Health Organization ( WHO).

The company produces 45 different kinds of Myanmar traditional herbal medicines and its products were exported to countries or regions such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea , Germany and Japan.


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