Vietnam and India eagerly explore partnerships in healthcare and pharmaceuticals

The Vietnamese healthcare market is growing rapidly with total spending on healthcare increasing from $16.1 billion in 2017 to more than $20 billion in 2021.

Pharmaceutical spending also increased to more than $6.6 billion in 2021. The system expanded rapidly with about 250 factories, 200 import-export facilities, 4,300 wholesale agents, and more than 62,000 retail agents.

Addressing the India-Vietnam Pharmaceuticals and Health Industry Conference, Pranay Verma, Ambassador of India to Vietnam, shared that cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector is an important component of the cooperation between both countries. Thus, Indian companies are eager to explore partnerships and investments in Vietnam.

At the conference, around 200 participants were also updated with the latest regulations and guidelines regarding business and investment in Vietnam's pharmaceutical sector.

Tran Ngoc Liem, general director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry's Ho Chi Minh City branch said, "India ranks third globally in terms of output of pharmaceutical products and 14^th in terms of value. The leading pharmaceutical companies of India all meet many international standards such as in the US, EU, and Australia. Vietnam wishes to seek cooperation opportunities with India in the field, especially in the manufacturing of vaccines against COVID-19."

Commenting on the potential segments for cooperation, Murali Krishna, director of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India, shared that India and Vietnam can work together in the areas of finished dosage formulations, especially those of high-tech products, herbals and traditional medicine, and biosimilars and vaccines.

He further invited concerned authorities and enterprises to participate in the International Regulators Meet on the sidelines of the IPHEX exhibition scheduled to take place in September in New Delhi.