Shifting to produce biomedical drugs will be a major challenge for Bangladesh, said Salman F Rahman.
The Private Sector Industry and Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister also said that currently, 16 out of the top 20 best selling medicines in the world are biological drugs.
“At present, 15% of APIs are being produced locally. But value addition is the most important thing in this sector,” he added.
However, Bangladesh has also been working on producing biomedical drugs, he added.
He was speaking as chief guest at a seminar titled “Export of pharmaceutical sector upon LDC graduation: strategies and way forward,” organized by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) on Saturday in the capital.
“Our achievement in the pharmaceutical sector is phenomenal because of the skilled human resource in this sector,” he added, saying that the sector is also seeing technological shifts.
“We need more research and development for further advancement,” he added.
He also said that to make the pharma sector one of the diversified export baskets of the country, manufacturers and the government are working jointly and already have achieved tremendous success.
“Pharmaceutical sector should have the same facilities as the RMG sector enjoys. In the next four to five years, the pharmaceutical sector will be a $5-billion industry,” he added.
Ahmad Kaikaus, principal secretary to the prime minister said that the LDC graduation will be an opportunity if the country can overcome the challenges.
“Private sector has already proved their ability to lead the economy. To identify the challenges of this sector, collaborative activities with various stakeholders will play an important role,” he added.
Regarding the post-pandemic and the stress on the global economy from the Russia-Ukraine crisis, he said Bangladesh too is feeling the effects, since we live in a globalized world.
“But I hope these crises are temporary,” he added, saying that in this situation, people should take some austerity measures to keep the economy stable.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), presented the keynote paper at the seminar.
In his keynote paper, he said that Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical sector, which meets 97% of the domestic demand, is a sector worth $3.5 billion.
He also said that the global market for pharmaceuticals was $821 billion in 2021.
In the FY22, pharma products earned export earnings worth $188.8 million, securing 67th position in the global pharma export market.
However, in terms of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), Bangladesh is heavily dependent on imports.
“In FY2020-21, Bangladesh’s import of API was $1.05 billion from the global API market, which is worth $200 billion,” he added.
To strengthen this sector before LDC graduation, he suggested investing in strong research and development, addressing shortages of skilled human resources, exploring opportunities of setting up joint ventures and attracting FDI.
He also suggested making API park, having the facility of CETP operational, making industrial policies compliance, and amending the patent law.
“Bangladesh should take advantage of a compulsory licensing provision of the TRIPS Agreement by bringing in required changes in the patent laws and drug policies,” he added.
Dhaka Chamber President Rizwan Rahman said in his opening remarks that after graduation, Bangladesh will face a higher tariff regime ranging from 8%-15% in the export market, which may decline export earnings by 14.28%, equivalent to $5.73 billion.
“Upon economic graduation, our IP exemption benefit will be reduced till 2026, having no import restrictions. The pharmaceutical sector may be affected by loss of IP waiver, resulting in decline of generic and patented drugs production and export share,” he added.
He also said that the private sector needs to be equipped and incentivized on IP adoption for business development and the government should consider various policy reforms including the development of pharmaceutical R&D facilities and export market diversification.
Speakers also stressed on faster implementation of API park, long term policy, value addition, more facilities like the RMG sector, negotiation with WTO for extension of the TRIPS agreement, updating laws, and looking for a spot in the ASEAN market.
They also said that the value addition of the pharmaceutical sector is higher than the RMG sector. So, the government should emphasize the production of raw materials.
Professor ABM Faroque, director of the Biomedical Research Center of Dhaka University, M Mosaddek Hossain, managing director of UniMed UniHealth Pharmaceuticals Limited, and AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of the Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection, also spoke at the seminar.
