The expo was organized with a view to inform people and policymakers about the strength of the Nepali companies and convince them that they are able to compete with the overseas manufacturers in the international market. [break]
However, domestic manufacturers, who were active and enthusiastically participating in the fair, soon found that the government was not going to fulfill their demand on ´restricting imports of essential drugs´.
Inaugurating the function, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal made it clear that imposing any restrictions on the import of medicines was out of question. “Nepal has already become a member of various regional agreements and multilateral trading arrangement of World Trade Organization. Imposing ban on import is irrelevant and also out of question,” he said addressing the manufacturers.
Instead he urged the companies to adopt standard productions procedures and produce high quality products so as to compete with them.
Forty-six pharmaceutical companies, of which 16 have already complied with WHO-Good Manufacturing Practice, had recently pushed the government to either restrict imports of 60 different types of essential drugs or discourage their import by raising duties, saying that domestic companies were readily fulfilling their demands.
Moreover, PM Nepal said the country was still lagging behind in tapping the huge herbal resources of the country because of the lack of capacity to identify, process and conduct research and development on herbs.
He also called upon the pharmaceutical producers to observe high morale and sensitivity while producing medicines, especially given its importance to human life and health. The PM also suggested the industrial workers to join hands with entrepreneurs for the survival and growth of the industries.
“If the industries collapse, workers will instantly lose jobs. Hence, the workers should act sensibly and concentrate on how to save the industry as well,” Nepal said. He also asked the entrepreneurs to do away with their attitude of not sharing their profits with the workers.
Vice President of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar, on the other hand, laid emphasis on the need to improve security situation in the country. He also asked the government to strongly negotiate with India to ensure easy access for Nepali medicines in the southern market.
According to Association of Pharmaceutical Producers of Nepal (APPN), the organizer of the expo, yearly demand of medicines in Nepal presently stands at Rs 12 billion and it has been growing at an annual rate of 20 percent.