Sri Lankan government to set up Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Zone with Malaysian investments
The State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation of Sri Lanka (SPMC), which is under the purview of the Health Ministry of Sri Lanka, and Pharma Zone Ltd. has reportedly entered into an agreement yesterday to build the first ever exclusive Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Zone in Sri Lanka in the Welipenna area of the Kalutara District at an investment in excess of US$ 10 million.
Pharma Zone Ltd, located on 50 acres, is a BOI-approved company whose principals are the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ismail Ibni Sultan Iskandar and leading Malaysian entrepreneur Patrick Lim Soo Kit.
According to reports, the Sultan’s investment vehicle Inti Kemuncak Sdn Bhd is a well-established property development company based in Malaysia focusing on large-scale property development in the Asian region. Inti Kemuncak is the innovative developer of major townships and urban regeneration projects including Coronation Square, a US$ 1.2 billion international class urban mixed development located within the prestigious Ibrahim International Business District (IIBD) in Johor Bahru.
Pharma Zone will provide local pharmaceutical manufacturers with sufficient land for manufacturing plants and basic infrastructure facilities for the manufacture of pharmaceutical products with a view to achieving the Government’s target of localising production of essential pharmaceutical items to a value of US$ 100 million, thus saving valuable foreign exchange.
Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne has expressed his gratitude to the Sultan and the people of Johor Malaysia for making the Pharma Zone a reality.
He has said that the establishment of the Pharma Zone by the Sultan would hopefully give confidence and encourage other overseas investors to follow suit.
“We are delighted to enter into this agreement with the Government of Sri Lanka, which has always enjoyed warm relations with Malaysia. It is the fervent wish of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, that this venture not only brings commercial prosperity to Sri Lanka but benefits the people by way of reduced pricing as well as the ready availability of drugs,” said Lim while speaking at the occasion.
“This is a 100% Malaysian investment and it underlines the high regard that the Sultan and the people of Johor have for Sri Lanka.”
The zone will be run and administered by Pharma Zone, headed by Lim, while the SPMC along with the Ministry of Health will set the standards and monitor quality.
Electricity, water, road infrastructure, security, waste water management, etc. will all be provided to the companies operating within the zone, and it is the intention of Pharma Zone to attract overseas investors to set up operations within the zone as well.
“We will be marketing Pharma Zone regionally,” said Lim.
OSL take:
The initiation of the project to build the first ever exclusive Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Zone in Sri Lanka with an investment from Malaysian businessmen will open up many investment opportunities for investments in the pharmaceuticals sector in the country. Investors could look at opening up pharmaceuticals manufacturing operations in the new Pharma Zone or even look at setting up a similar operation in Sri Lanka’s health sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20180110/Z_7 |