Sri Lankan pharmaceutical companies participate at the “MediPharm Expo 2024” in Ho Chi Minh City Viet Nam
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Vietnam in collaboration with Export Development Board (EDB) organized the participation of Sri Lankan businesses at the 22nd edition of International Medical, Hospital & Pharmaceutical Exhibition Viet Nam Expo, which was held from 1st to 3rd August 2024 at Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City.
Leading Pharmaceutical companies in Sri Lanka, Astron Ltd, Morison Ltd and Gamma InterPharm (Pvt) Ltd participated for the first time at the “MediPharm Expo 2024”, in order to explore the market opportunities in Viet Nam.
The Sri Lanka Pavillion was ceremonially inaugurated by Mr. Vu Tuan Cuong, Director General of Viet Nam Drug Administration, Mrs. Nguyen Van Nga, Director General, Department of Southern Affairs of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam, Mr. Pham Dang Khanh, Vice General Director of Vinexad, , Mr. Dao Van Sinh, Chief Representative of the Ministry of Health in HCM City, Dr. Le Ton Dung, President of Viet Nam Association of Aesthetics and Internal Medicine (Viet Nam Association of Plastic Surgery) and Mrs. Shirley Marguerite Hopman-Aluwihare, Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka in Ho Chi Minh City.
In Viet Nam, medicine purchases are predominantly tender-driven, which is 80% by the government and 20% by the private sector whereas 90% of the hospitals are government owned. While there are around 350 plus manufacturing plants in Viet Nam, more than 50 of those plants are EU GMP certified. At present, 50% in value and 70% of the volume of the total pharmaceutical demand of Viet Nam is manufactured within the country and it is expected to expand local manufacturing up to 80% of the value of pharmaceutical demand within the next 3-4 years. Viet Nam is a chemist-driven market, where doctors typically prescribe medications by their generic names. As 90% of the population has medical insurance coverage, pharmacist decide the brand of the drug depending on the insurance coverage. In order to enter into Viet Nam market, Pharmaceutical products have to go through a rigorous application procedure which takes around 18 months. However, Over The Counter (OTC) medicine, nutritional supplements and herbal medicine has a fairly easy entry within six months, depending on the demand for the product and the distributor/importer.
During the three-day visit, the Sri Lankan companies got the opportunity to visit Hong Duc General Hospital III in Ho Chi Minh City which provided insights on the local hospital system for procurement of medicines. Further, the Embassy organized a networking session for the Sri Lankan exhibitors with the Business Network International (BNI) in Ho Chi Minh City, which provided further networking opportunities with the industry stakeholders.
During their stay, the Sri Lankan companies had meetings with a number of potential distributors and importers and was able to establish solid contacts with potential distributing companies with whom they will enter into agreements in future for introducing their medicine to Viet Nam.
Ms. Kishani Wickramasinghe, Minister (Commercial) of the Embassy facilitated the companies in arranging business meetings and networking session with the BNI.
