India to set up Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Hub in SL

In its first ever official level discussions with Sri Lanka on the proposed pharmaceutical manufacturing hub which has now excited the Lankan private sector, India has given a strong, structured recommendation on the way forward for Sri Lanka’s dream: Focus on the huge global market first.

Jayarathna Herath, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka ( third from right) exchanges souvenirs, with Dr. P V Appaji, the visiting Director General of Pharmexcil of India who is leading the Indian pharma delegation to Sri Lanka.

“I don’t say that the local market of Sri Lanka is less important but to get Sri Lanka’s pharma hub moving, modelling on the Indian experience, I stress that it is better to focus on export oriented manufacturing aimed at the huge $ 956 B global pharma market. Then source international investments here such as JVs and thereafter, bring in the required critical technology for both bulk and formulation manufacturing” advised Dr. P V Appaji, Director General of Pharmexcil of India who is currently in Sri Lanka leading a high level Indian pharmaceutical delegation to the country. Dr. Appaji, who arrived with his team on the morning of 15 August gave this advice on the same day to Sri Lankan Ministry of Industry and Commerce team led by Jayarathna Herath, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka during a special meeting with in-depth (which is also the first official meeting between India and Sri Lanka on the proposed pharmaceutical hub in Sri Lanka) held between the visiting delegation and the Ministry’s team that consisted of Secretary Anura Siriwardena, high ranking officials of the Ministry’s Department of Commerce and reps from top ten Sri Lankan pharma manufacturers such as CIC Holdings and Astron Ltd.

Minister Herath was deputising for Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce recently. The visiting Indian team is the largest of its kind to arrive in Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka’s trade history, and has arrived as a result of the directive of Anand Sharma, Indian Minister of Industry, Commerce and Textiles. During the recent high level Indian trade delegation to Colombo led by Minister Sharma, he announced that a special Indian pharmaceutical delegation arrived in Colombo to set up the proposed Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Hub in Sri Lanka.

The Indian team is led by Pharmexcil, the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India has been set up by Minister Sharma’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry and is India’s powerful promoter of its $10 Bn pharmaceutical exports. Welcoming the Delegation, Deputy Minister Herath said: “We warmly welcome the strong delegation from India and as our Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen already announced, your arrival in such a short period shows Minister Sharma’s sincerity to implement the proposed pharma hub in Sri Lanka and to increase bilateral trade levels.”

Ministry Secretary Anura Siriwardene, addressing the delegation added: “We welcome you to develop our pharmaceutical manufacturing sector here. We have no doubts that you can upgrade our pharma industry in terms of quality, quality and diversity as we find there is a huge gap between domestic demand and supply and also potentials for export manufacturing.