ASEAN offers business potential of $13b to Pharma-Industry
By Mona Khan

ISLAMABAD—Fourteen (14) companies from Pakistan are participating in a three day conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia aiming to boost the Pakistan s access to regional medicine trade opportunities in the ASEAN market worth $13 billion a year.
Three days conference on the theme of "Asia Healthcare 2008" held under the auspices of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and the Geneva-based International Trade Centre(ITC) was inaugurated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, today.
The event will provide an opportunity to the Pakistani pharmaceutical companies to link across national borders to open new avenues for growth by interacting with 120 participant companies from thirteen (13) countries and to enter into one-to-one buyer-seller arrangement, joint sourcing and joint ventures, complementary production, concerted marketing, exchange of know-how and collaboration to improve operational performance.
The conference will provide the Pakistan healthcare companies, the new venues to export their low priced and high quality medical products to the growing and expanding market of ASEAN countries to meet the regional demand for low-cost drugs and traditional medicines.
The ten-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has identified healthcare as a priority sector in which to accelerate regional integration because of Asia's strong comparative advantages in natural resources, labour skills and cost competitiveness. The conference will also discuss the issues such as rules and regulations governing trade in pharmaceuticals and intellectual property rights, biotechnologies and quality assurance and safety in drug production.
More than 100 enterprises are participating in the conference representing countries such as Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam