The Union Commerce Ministry will hold an 'Indo Africa Pharma Business Meet' in Hyderabad from September 25 to enthuse confidence and also to create awareness among the African countries about India as a dependable source of quality generic medicines at affordable prices. Union minister for commerce & industry Anand Sharma will inaugurate the three-day event. Best Exporters and Patents Awards, instituted by Pharmexcil, will be conferred by the minister on this occasion.

The high profile business meet will be part of Indian government's 'Brand India Campaign' to counter the multinational companies' (MNCs) propaganda against the Indian generic drugs in the African countries. Pharmexcil executive director Dr P V Appaji said that a large number of delegates from major African countries like South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Benin, etc will be taking part in the meet.

Confirmed participants for the meet include DG NAFDAC, Nigeria, 15 other countries' senior FDA/procurement officials and 40 formulators / importers (pharma, herbal, medical devices, excipients, etc). Besides, a large number of importers, buyers and drug regulatory officials from various other African countries are also expected to attend the meeting which will be another attempt by the Indian government to allay any fears among the African countries about the quality of Indian generic drugs.

The total imports of drugs and pharmaceuticals of African Region is around US$ 5,000 million and India's share is 20.66 per cent with about US$1,005 million of exports in 2007-08. There exists a huge potential for the Indian pharma exporters to enhance their export performance to African countries, Dr Appaji said.

There will be technical sessions during the three-day meeting, where drug regulatory officials of various African countries will make presentations on drug regulatory systems in their respective countries. Emphasis will be on one-to-one meetings with the buyers. Besides, plant visits will also be organized for the drug regulatory authorities of various African countries.

Exhibition will also be organized by the Indian pharma exporters, to showcase the strength and quality of Indian generic drugs.

Main objective of the Indian government's aggressive 'Brand India Campaign' is to desist the African countries from introducing laws in their countries under which the generic drugs will be treated as counterfeit drugs. Under the influence of the MNCs propaganda, some African countries like Kenya and Uganda had recently come out with draft Bills under which even generic drugs will be classified as counterfeit drugs. India is concerned over the development because of the fact that apart from Kenya and Uganda, other African countries are also intending to follow suit which will put the Indian pharma industry in great trouble as Indian companies are the major exporters of generic drugs to several African countries.