In an effort to strengthen business ties and simplify exports in the field of pharmaceuticals between the two countries, the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) has come out with a proposal to constitute an Indo-Japan task force, with representatives from pharmaceutical industry and government officials from both India and Japan.

Pharmexcil chairman D B Mody shoved the proposal to Japanese Consul General Hyosuke Yasui for consideration during the recent one-day India-Japan Pharma seminar held in Mumbai. Reciprocating the Pharmexcil chairman's proposal, Hyosuke Yasui in his address in the seminar agreed in principle for constituting such a task force and assured further co-operation in this regard.

Armed with Japanese Consul General's green signal, Pharmexcil is preparing the homework to seek the consent from the Central government to form a task force with representatives from pharma industry and government for initiating talks with its counterparts in Japan. "As the Japanese Consul has given his nod for our proposal, we will officially write to him to set up a task force of Japanese pharmaceutical industry and government officials to carry the talks forward with Indian companies," Dr P V Appaji, executive director, Pharmexcil told Pharmabiz.

The task force from India will take initiative to hold discussions with its counterpart in Japan, to be set up as the part of the Indo-Japan task force for pharmaceutical exports, to open bilateral business opportunities. The initiative will help India to increase its presence in the highly regulated Japanese market, the second largest pharma market with 12 percent of total global pharmaceutical consumption.

Pharmexcil's proposal comes in the wake of the fact that currently India's participation in the highly potential Japanese pharma market of around Rs 300 crore (according to a rough estimate for the year 2005-06) is virtually non-existent.