Medicine markets in the gulf countries have huge potential for Indian drugs and the region can become the top export destination for Indian pharma exporters, according to Dr. Vinay Deshmukh, director, Regulatory and International Affairs, Sarkone LIfesciences, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.

There is considerable potential to expand shipments of medicines from India. Those who want to export their products from India can find new export markets in the UAE as majority of the population in the United Arab Emirates has a liking for Indian made medicines. UAE can become a top buyer of Indian generic or off-patent medicines, he added.

He was speaking to Pharmabiz while attending the buyer-seller meeting organised by Pharmexcil at the Pharmac South trade expo in Chennai.

Dr. Deshmukh points out that the gulf countries offer tremendous opportunities for Indian drug exports since the region is reliant on imported medicines. All the UAE countries are importing drugs from US and Europe. The native Arab people prefer medicines imported from America or Europe. But majority of the population there are from India, Pakistan and Philippines. They prefer imported drugs from India because they cannot afford US or European drugs.

In addition to this, India can benefit a lot from the gulf markets because of value addition and low cost manufacturing. The companies which are interested in overseas business can exploit the opportunities there. He wanted the manufacturers in India, especially from south, to become aware of the gulf market situation, especially in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

“In the case of Abu Dabi, out of the 20 lakh people there, 18 lakhs are foreigners, only two lakhs are natives. Foreign people include mostly from India, Pakistan, Philippines. These people cannot afford to purchase US medicines which are costlier. So, there is very big scope for Indian medicines in Abu Dhabi. Indian companies should manufacture affordable drugs for the gulf people,” said Dr Deshmukh.

Regarding regulatory system in the Gulf, he said the UAE countries lack a strong regulatory mechanism. There are a few local manufacturing companies which are WHO cGMP. But the inspections are conducted by UAE authorities. All the countries in the gulf region are following the regulatory system parallel to US FDA. But the regulatory mechanism and the infrastructure are poor.

He suggested that the pharma companies in the SME sector could become exporters to the gulf market provided the government took supporting measures. The companies in the SME sector should be given loans on low interest rates. The Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) should also come forward to help them.

Dr Vinay Deshmukh said in Abudabi there are 80 Indian wholesalers/stockists who are importing medicines from India and distributing to all the countries.