Attracting Investment and Localising Innovative Pharmaceutical Products and Medical Equipment Under Contract Manufacturing in Kazakhstan

On 17 January, SK-Pharmacia hosted a webinar on "Attracting Investment and Localising Innovative Pharmaceutical Products and Medical Equipment Under Contract Manufacturing in Kazakhstan." As co-organiser of the event, the BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce worked to bring in diplomatic missions accredited in Kazakhstan, as well as European companies.

The meeting was attended by heads of diplomatic missions: Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands André Carstens, Ambassador of Sweden Eva Polano and Ambassador of Austria Willy Kempel — joining online — Chargé d'Affaires and Head of the Economic Section of the German Embassy Holger Kolley, Deputy Heads of Mission Florian Leray (Belgium) and David Matos (Portugal), Tomasz Kollat (Poland), Head of the Trade Section of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan Agnieszka Osiecka, Vice-President for Medicine and Dean of the Nazarbayev University School of Medicine Massimo Pignatelli, Director of the Service Support Department at Kazakh Invest JSC Alida Tuebekova, and the leadership of SK-Pharmacia and the BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce.

Representatives of business circles were also invited: Dutch companies Kazorange, Janssen and Philips, Portuguese companies Ihcare and Farmaka, the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, STADA Kazakhstan, Bayer and others.

In total, the international webinar had 85 participants representing more than 10 countries, of whom 60 joined online.

The main item on the agenda was attracting investment and localising innovative pharmaceutical products and medical equipment under contract manufacturing in Kazakhstan.

Pharmaceutical companies are seeking contract manufacturers that offer a wider range of services or are willing to play a more strategically important and long-term role in production.

SK-Pharmacia Chairman Yerkhat Iskaliyev spoke positively of the EU's growing interest in the country's pharmaceutical industry. SK-Pharmacia is interested in deepening cooperation with Dutch companies such as Philips, Kazorange and Janssen: alongside traditional supplies of medicines and equipment, the possibility of establishing assembly operations in Kazakhstan with a further route to the EU market is also being considered.

BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce General Director Anuar Kurzhikayev briefed participants on the Chamber's plans for the current year and welcomed Janssen, part of the Johnson & Johnson group of companies, as a new BeNeLux Chamber member.

Following the meeting, plans were outlined for organising a trip by a Kazakh delegation of representatives from the Ministry of Health, SK-Pharmacia and the BeNeLux Chamber to the Kingdom of the Netherlands to hold talks with the business community. The parties also agreed to sign a memorandum of cooperation between the BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce and SK-Pharmacia to further develop the above tasks of bringing European pharmaceutical companies onto the Kazakh market.

As part of such events, held to support the development of domestic pharmaceutical and medical production, the Single Distributor SK-Pharmacia LLP is putting forward the initiative to provide a platform for global players to enter Kazakhstan "from packaging to full-cycle production."