Asia Pharma Expo (APE)-2005 is expected to open up a new dimension for displaying pharma products of both local and foreign companies, bulk drugs, processing plants and equipment's, packaging machinery and materials, research & development (R&D), environment control equipment and services.

It will also pave the way for offering a common platform for the South Asian pharma industry professionals to interact, update and exchange the new technology and concepts.

Bangladesh will host the APE in the middle of February next year (2005).
More than 400 exhibitors from India, China, European Union, USA, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar and Bangladesh are expected to join the prestigious conference of the pharmaceutical industry.

The leading pharmaceutical companies across the world are expected to participate in the mega show.

Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) in association with Ahmedabad-based Global Pharma Expo (GPE) of India will arrange the programme from February 16 to February 18 in city's Bangladesh- China Friendship Conference Centre.

GPE, a leading pharmaceutical event management organisation is also a business associate of world renowned Reed Exhibition Companies Ltd of UK.

Bangladesh earlier held the same exhibition known as gateway to South Asian market in February 2003. Malaysia held APE-2004 from April 21 to 23 in Kuala Lumpur.

Samson H Chowdhury of Square Group has been made the chairman of the organising committee while chief executive officer of Beximco Pharma Nazmul Hassan will officiate as the convenor.

"For us APE-2005 will be an ideal showcase to tell the world what we have been able to achieve with our efforts," Samson said in a message to the organising committee.

Vice-Chairman of Beximco Group Salman F Rahman said: APE-2003 was a breakthrough event and APE-2005 will be more effective in the region serving the business needs of pharma industry.

"APE-2003 was a landmark event and APE-2005 will also provide an ideal platform for pharmaceutical and related industries with ample business opportunities," State Minister for Textile Mizanur Rahman Sinha said in another message.

Industry sources said Bangladesh has all the potential to become a major global source of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API). The country will also be able to produce drugs which would be under patent protection until 2015.

The APE-2003, the first ever international pharaceutical show organised in Bangladesh got the outstanding response from entire fraternity of the pharma industry across the SAARC Region nations and more than 6,000 visitors had attended the show.

The APE show has established a new landmark for the pharma professionals all over the world.

"Bangladesh pharma fraternity is awaiting to welcome the exhibitors and the trade visitors to explore the vast business opportunities by hosting the APE-2005," BAPI President SM Shafiuzzaman said.

Member companies of BAPI are presently manufacturing 96% of the country's total production and are engaged in exporting finished drugs and medicines to 52 countries in the world.

The pharmaceutical industry is the second largest taxpayer to the country's exchequer.

Export earnings from pharmaceutical sector stood at tk 502.2 million in the first 10 months of the last fiscal (2003-04). The export earning was tk 523.7 million in 2002-03.

At present, Bangladesh is exporting pharmaceutical products to over 50 countries. The major markets for Bangladesh are Korea, Brazil, the Netherlands, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Yemen, USA, India, South Africa, Ukraine, Vietnam, Kenya, Norway, Sweden, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

A BAPI delegation visited four African countries in the middle of last month (June). The countries were Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Malao.

The Bangladesh pharmaceutical industry now owns some 95 per cent of the domestic medicine market worth Tk 30 billion.

There are more than 200 pharmaceutical companies in the country, of them 20-30 are big and all these big ones have a quality manufacturing capacity.

Among the leading pharma houses that invested significantly in quality control in recent period are: Square Pharma, Beximco Pharma, Acme, Opsonin, Novartis, Incepta, ACI, Roche, Renata, Orion and Popular Pharma.

Popular Pharma will get a loan worth Tk 390 million under a syndicated term loan facility sanctioned under lead arrangement of Prime Bank Ltd. The other participating banks in the syndicated loan are Exim Bank Ltd, Standard Bank Ltd, United Commercial Bank Ltd, State Bank of India and Trust Bank Ltd.

The agreement was signed on July 18 in a city hotel.

The pharmaceutical companies listed with the Dhaka Stock Exchange include Square Pharma, Beximco Pharma, ACI Ltd, Glaxo SmithKline, Reckitt Benckiser, Ambee Pharma, Renata Ltd and Orion Infusion.