Indian Embassy in Azerbaijan organizes webinar on pharmaceutical products 

As part of celebrations of 75 years of India's Independence - Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Embassy of India in Baku, in association with the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), organized a Webinar / B2B Meeting in hybrid mode on India-Azerbaijan cooperation in Pharmaceutical sector on October 13, 2021, Report informs.

The event was attended by about more than 130 participants, including representatives from the relevant Government Authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan, PHARMEXCIL, Embassy of India, and major pharmaceutical companies in Azerbaijan and India.

Mr. B. Vanlalvawna, Ambassador of India, made opening remarks mentioning that the Indian pharma sector occupies a dominant position in the world. Having informed the participants about new opportunities, Ambassador indicated that more than 8 Million RT-PCR test kits are produced in India on a daily basis. He added that close to 200 Indian pharmaceutical products have already been registered in Azerbaijan. The Ambassador said that the Indian economy is experiencing healthy growth, and the IMF has predicted a growth of 9.5% for the Indian economy during this fiscal year. He said that this growth can be attributed to recent reforms in the Indian economy, including the introduction of new taxation laws, Production Linked Incentive Schemes, setting up of Development Finance Institution, the passage of labour code, launching of asset monetization pipeline, liberalising investment policy on the telecom sector, etc.

Mr. Hamid Gurbanov, Head of Registration and Expertise Department, Analytical Expertise Center under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan, made a Presentation about the drug registration process in Azerbaijan. Mr. Vusal Damirov, Senior Adviser, Tariff Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan, spoke about the price regulation policy of Azerbaijan for medicines.

Ms. Lakshmi Prasanna, Director, Regulatory Affairs, Pharmexcil, made a presentation on "Indian Pharma Industry & Contribution to the World," informing that India is the 3rd largest exporter of formulations by volume & 10th by value, and 8 out of 20 Global Generic companies are from India. She also mentioned that 90% of WHO Pre-Qualified API's are sourced from India.

During the event, Ms. Ulviyya Azmammadova, Director of Macromedicine, spoke on market opportunities in Azerbaijan in the sphere of the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Orkhan Guliyev, Import Manager of Avromed, made a presentation about its company and opportunities for cooperation with Indian pharma companies.

The participants from the two sides had useful interaction and discussed the opportunities for further cooperation.

During Jan-Jul 2021, India exported US$ 15.8 million worth of pharmaceutical products to Azerbaijan, with an increase of over 96% as compared to the same period of last year. India's share in the Azerbaijani market has increased to 5.3% during the period.