All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) has urged all of its members to gear up for tough competition from the organised MNC retail sector who are eyeing to enter the Indian market through foreign direct investment (FDI) by raising their standards so that they can have a competitive edge over the organised sector. The association stressed that if all the single owner retailers and chemist comes together and gradually develop into a single entity they can definitely stop the organised sector from monopolising the market.

AIOCD which has over five lakh plus members consisting of chemists and druggists from across the country pointed out that there is no point in wasting time opposing the FDI in retail sector since it is almost a done deal. It stressed that rather than taking a defensive approach the Indian retailers and chemists should take a challenger's role by providing an even ground for the foreign investors.

According to Vaijnath Eknath Jaguste, vice-president, Maharashtra State Pharmacy Council (MSPC), this can be achieved only if every one stands in unity and work together to initiate activities that will focus on imbibing professional ethics in the way the services are delivered to the public in the retail chemist shops.

He added, “Till today, we were only facing competition from the Indian organised sector but now with the entry of MNC's in the market the situation is going to get tougher as we will have to face a collective competition. The only way to tackle this issue is by raising our standards according to the international level and by ensuring that all of the chemists and retailers are following the pharmacy professional ethics properly.”

Jaguste said that this is the right time to take this huge leap and start training and stressing on being regulatory complaint so that by the time the actual completion comes in we are ready for them. “It is important to realise that we have a tremendous power with over five lakh chemist and retailers support from every nook and corner of the country which certainly gives us an edge over them. Taking that into our advantage our aim should be to ensure that rather than feeling threatened and challenged by them we should take initiative to ensure that  the MNC's are challenged,” he stressed.

He further pointed out that to attain this it is essential that the chemists and the retailers in the country understands the importance of following professional pharmacy ethics as the MNC's will certainly be at par with it. Most importantly they should develop their customers relation management (CRM) which focuses on soft skills and etiquettes so that the patients can feel at ease.

“We should remember with whom we are going to compete with, so steps should be taken to ensure that we fulfil all the criterion of regulatory compliance, like it should be seen to it that no medicines are sold in the retail or chemist shops without the presence of a certified pharmacists. Patients will always prefer taking high quality services from any given service provider. Therefore it is important to realise that only by following the rules and regulations can we sustain this tough completion,” Jaguste stressed.