MINSK, 19 February (BelTA) – Belarus’ producers of cancer drugs are considering the possibility to expand into the market of Uzbekistan, Belpharmprom Holding Deputy Director General Pavel Dragun said at a roundtable “Uzbekistan and Belarus, a time-tested partnership” in BelTA’s press center.
He emphasized that the market of Uzbekistan is very promising and Belarus is ready to offer high-quality, inexpensive pharmaceuticals to this country. By now, the enterprises of Belpharmprom Holding have obtained 136 registration certificates to sell medicines in Uzbekistan. In 2023, supplies of medicines to this country increased by 120%. “We have set a more ambitious goal for this year. Commercial contracts worth more than $5 million have been signed, which will allow significantly increasing the export of medicines compared to 2023 when the holding’s enterprises directly shipped their products to Uzbekistan,” said Pavel Dragun.
According to him, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Belpharmprom Holding and the Pharmaceutical Industry Development Agency under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan. This allowed concluding the first commercial contracts and embarking on practical work to increase not only direct supplies, but also to expand cooperation in general, which includes providing assistance to the Pharmaceutical Industry Development Agency with new types of medicines.
“We have worked through the list of 50 medicines submitted by the agency. We have suggested 12 medicines for joint production at enterprises in Uzbekistan; now we are looking for a business partner,” said the deputy director general. However, cooperation on joint development and transfer of technologies goes further than that, he noted. Now, Tashkent-based enterprise Belpharm and Nesvizh Pharmaceutical Plant are considering the possibility of launching the production of infusion solutions for the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan. The Belarusian company can act as a technical partner, which implies that it can transfer technology and train specialists.
“We consider Uzbekistan as one of the most promising platforms for entering the markets of third countries,” said Pavel Dragun. “We view Uzbekistan not only as a production site, but also as a logistics hub, which will allow us to make the most of the cooperation potential and build on the work started by our presidents,” he remarked.
The Belarusian side has submitted registration applications for about 20 new drugs and re-registration applications for another 27 in Uzbekistan. “We count on the Healthcare Ministry of Belarus to help us enter Uzbekistan’s market of cancer drugs. Our medicines are comparable in technical features, medicinal properties and are 2-3 times cheaper than medicines imported into Uzbekistan from other countries,” he noted.
Maternal and child health is one of key areas of cooperation in the healthcare sector. Director of the Mother and Child National Research Center Sergei Vasiliev spoke about this during the roundtable. He emphasized that the existing contacts in this field got a significant boost following the Belarus-Uzbekistan Health Forum in November 2023. Back then, more than 300 specialists from Uzbekistan visited healthcare facilities of Belarus. “This helped find common areas of interest and build a better understanding of the parties’ needs,” he said.
Organizational, methodological, treatment and diagnostic support was provided to Uzbekistan’s Kashkadarya Maternal and Child Health Center after it re-opened after renovation. Specialists of the Mother and Child National Research Center travel to Uzbekistan to assist their Uzbek colleagues, who, in turn, come to Belarus for training and internships. Cooperation plans in this format have been made for several years ahead.
A reminder, cooperation in the healthcare sector became one of the topics of the talks between Aleksandr Lukashenko and his Uzbekistani counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev during the official visit of the Belarusian leader to Uzbekistan. The president suggested considering joint production. “We can create joint ventures here, and he [the president of Uzbekistan] can get any pharmaceutical substances as he has enormous connections in the world. And we can produce medicines here,” the Belarusian head of state suggested.
Aleksandr Lukashenko assured that Belarus was ready to lend a helping hand to Uzbekistan in matters related to maternal and child health. “We are ready to assist you in every way we can, we can come, launch this clinic, help staff it, and teach your people obstetrics. We will be helping you until the personnel is trained. We are obliged to help women,” said the head of state.
