Consistent policies needed to attract investments to Sri Lanka
To build the investors’ confidence in Sri Lanka for them to pump essential funds to start local industries, consistent, fair and equitable policies are essential that would ensure the industrialists to achieve long term goals.
The above was stated by Murtaza Esufally, Managing Director, Morison PLC on the occasion of opening Morison’s large Pharma Manufacturing facility in Sri Lanka at the SLINTEC Park, Pitipana, Homagama last week, by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
“Sri Lanka can rely on Morison and Hemas to produce quality medicine that Sri Lankans can buy at affordable prices. That not only uplifts the health of the people of Sri Lanka but can build a new resilient and precision growth industry that Sri Lanka can be proud of,” he said.
Morison is committed to increase access of high quality, affordable medicines to all Sri Lankans and enables it with the new plant, with a capacity to supply over 20 per cent of Sri Lanka’s tablet needs. A pioneer in the local manufacture of pharmaceuticals, Morison’s new facility with an investment of US$18.5 million reaches a major milestone in Sri Lanka, being the first European Union- Good Manufacturing Practice (EU- GMP) compliant oral solid dosage manufacturing plant in Sri Lanka.
Continuing Mr. Esufally said: “This investment is supported through the guaranteed buy back agreements with the Government, that will help us to build economies of scale and be more competitive in global markets and we at Morison continue to look forward to delivering the highest quality products by partnering with global pharmaceutical leaders”.
“We will”, he said, “explore this new phase of growth in conformance with global protocols and regulations, through the formulation of new products and the development of opportunities in new export markets”.
He said that it is a new plant is capable of manufacturing any brand in the world. They can even export as they have already spoken to many of their pharmaceutical companies all over the world.
Morison has been in the medicine manufacture and distribution in the country for the last 80 years and they have now acquired the potential to catapult the kind of investment into global standards. Morison can now manufacture 5 billion tablets and also liquid drugs per year.
Prof. Channa Jayasumana, State Minister of Pharmaceutical Production, Supply and Regulation, said that one of the impediments involved in the sale of locally manufactured drugs has been the mafia operating in the medical field in Sri Lanka in that imported medicine sellers bribe some of the specialist medical practitioners to encourage prescribing these imported medicine.