MEDICINES play a direct or indirect role in ensuring the well-being of people by getting rid of human diseases and alleviating anxiety and restlessness.
Therefore, medicine is one of the largest and most profitable industries in the world today.
The pharmaceutical industry of Bangladesh is known as an emerging industry with great potential, which is playing a major role in the country’s economy.
Despite many crises, this industry has gained enough reputation for its healthy development and quality productivity and has been able to achieve international standards.
Bangladesh continues to thrive in expanding the life-saving industry.
It is important for this sector to play a significant role in strengthening the economic base of the country.
Currently, Bangladesh has gained recognition of an exporting country instead of being an importer in the pharmaceutical industry.
Bangladesh is the only country which is becoming known as an exporting country after meeting its domestic needs.
Currently, 97% of the country’s total demand for drugs is being produced locally.
However, after independence, 96% of medicines have to be imported from abroad.
Medicines are being exported to about 80 countries including Europe, America, the Middle East and Central Asia.
At present, this industry is ranked third in terms of exports in Bangladesh. It will not be that far away when the industry surpasses the revenue of the garment industry.
In this era of globalisation, the pharmaceutical industry in our country is in a strong position.
Therefore, the highest quality control of products is a prerequisite for export to join the international market of medicines across the borders of the country.
Therefore, in terms of product quality and meaning, Bangladesh will be at the forefront of promotion and expansion.
To increase the acceptance of this country’s medicine abroad, its quality testing system must be on par with international standards.
Many developing countries, including neighbouring Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan still import most of their medicines.
A significant development in Bangladesh’s health sector is the National Drug Policy, a global indicator for measuring health and human development.
This policy, which came into effect in 1982, aims to remove harmful and unnecessary drugs from the market, and ensure access to essential drugs at fair prices in all cases.
As a result of this policy, the pharmaceutical industry of Bangladesh has flourished.
Bangladesh’s exports of pharmaceutical products to Myanmar were US$11.77 million (RM55 million) in 2015, according to the United Nations Comtrade database on international trade.
Medicines worth US$188.7 million were exported from Bangladesh in the last financial year.
Although it was exported to 140 countries around the world, the largest shipment has gone to neighbouring country Myanmar.
The country exported medicines worth US$2.76 million in the last financial year, which is about 15% of the total medicinal exports.
However, Bangladesh accounts for only 5% of Myanmar’s total demand for pharmaceuticals, which is almost entirely dependent on imports.
Bangladesh sent medicines and medical equipment worth 10,000,000 takas (RM576,639) as a relief to Myanmar flood victims in 2015.
We believe that there is a strong possibility of increasing Bangladesh’s share in Myanmar’s pharmaceutical sector if it gets government support.
Despite the Rohingya issue and crackdown on insurgents at the border areas under the junta government, medicinal exports to Myanmar increased by more than 24% compared with the previous fiscal year (US$22.4 million).
But Bangladesh’s share is only 5% compared with Myanmar’s demand for medicine every year.
According to UN Comtrade data, Myanmar imported about US$550 million worth of medicines in 2021.
Of this, India imported US$298.5 million, which is about 55% of the total imports.
Analysis of data from the Bangladesh Export Development Bureau shows that 34 items of goods were exported from Bangladesh to Myanmar in the last financial year.
The income from these products is US$88 million. Out of this, only medicine worth US$27.6 million has been exported, which is about 71% of total exports to Myanmar.
Again, in the fiscal year 2021-2022, medicines worth US$188.7 million have been exported from Bangladesh to 140 countries.
Among them, most of the medicines were exported to Myanmar followed by Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the US in terms of drug exports.
In the last financial year, medicines exported to these countries were valued at US$23.2 million, US$22.6 million and US$13.4 million respectively.
Myanmar was the top country in the export of medicines from Bangladesh in the previous financial year as well.
During this time, drugs worth US$2.2 million were exported.
However, Bangladesh is gradually increasing its share. Many export-oriented pharmaceutical companies are now establishing themselves in Myanmar.
Chittagong’s Elbion Group is going to add a new name to the list of pharmaceutical exports to Myanmar.
Chittagong’s only drug exporting company is going to export a 20-foot container of omeprazole group drugs to Myanmar next month, worth about US$30,000. But this is just the beginning.
According to information from the Elbion group, applications have been made to the Myanmar Medicines Administration for the registration of 40 drugs from different groups.
Next month, a trial basis shipment of medicine will go to Myanmar.
The container will go directly to Yangon port in Myanmar via Chittagong sea port.
Last June, 40 more drugs were applied for registration and will take a year to get approval.
Elbion will export large-scale in the future to the potential market of Bangladeshi drugs, if approved.
However, in this case the restrictions imposed by Myanmar’s junta government on foreign currency transactions last April are causing some obstacles.
However, the government should be proactive. In 2014, a 15-member delegation from Myanmar, mostly doctors or pharmacists, visited Bangladesh and several pharmaceutical factories.
After the team returned to Myanmar, there was a positive impact on Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical exports there.
In 2010, Myanmar’s domestic demand for medicine was about US$3 billion.
In 2021, Bangladesh exported medicine worth US$27 million to US$28 million to Myanmar, which is substantially less.
The government should bring the first line of specialist doctors, who will mainly prescribe the medicines, to Bangladesh and inspect several compliance measures at drug factories there and present the entire process of drug production to them. It would have a positive impact.
It is believed that the restrictions imposed by the Myanmar junta on foreign exchange transactions will not cause many problems for Bangladeshi businessmen as eight countries, including Bangladesh and Myanmar, are members of the Asian Clearance Agency or ACUR. Therefore, transactions in their currency are possible.
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