Investing in health holds key to success of nations
By a staff reporter
17 November 2006
RAS AL KHAIMAH — Shaikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, has inaugurated the Fourth Arab European Pharma Seminar, organised jointly by the Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) and Uhlmann Pac-Systeme GmbH Co KG at the Hotel Hilton here.
The seminar was attended by representatives from 10 leading global pharmaceutical machinery manufacturers and more than 20 leading pharmaceutical producers from the Middle East.
Speaking on the occasion, Shaikh Saud said that investing in knowledge and health would hold the key to the success and well-being of nations in the future.
He said Ras Al Khaimah-based Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries has become a leader in pharmaceutical production in the region by implementing a strategy of constant innovation and excellence in quality.
Shaikh Saud said the government of Ras Al Khaimah has created various gateways for investors following the changing global economic scenario.
"We have created the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority and the Ras Al Khaimah Free Zone to act as gateways for investors to set up businesses in a simplified and hassle-free manner in the emirates."
Shaikh Faisal bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries, said the company will invest Dh1 billion in various expansion programmes in the next five years.
Abdul Razzaq Yousef, CEO of the Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries, said the company is planning to set up 11 new manufacturing plants, seven of them in the UAE and four abroad, as part of the expansion programme.
He pointed out that four of the proposed seven plants in the UAE would focus on finished pharma products while the remaining three plants would produce raw materials. He said that the new manufacturing plants abroad would be located in Morocco, Sudan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Presenting a paper on 'Pharma Industry in the Arab World — Threats and Future', Abdul Razzaq Yousef said the implementation of Patent Laws has prevented the pharmacy industry of the Middle East from introducing latest drugs in the market.
"This has led to more competition among the 196 pharmaceutical industries in the Middle East, who are now competing over the 70 per cent of the Middle East Pharma market, worth about $8 billion.
