Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly met with government and private sector representatives of the pharmaceutical industry on Tuesday to discuss strategies for expanding exports and addressing industry challenges. "We recognize the challenges facing the pharmaceutical sector," Madbouly said, pledging government collaboration with the private sector to overcome any obstacles. "We will face any problem together and work to solve it." The Prime Minister emphasized the sector's significance to the Egyptian economy and its potential for growth, particularly in exports. Egypt's Minister of Health and Population, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, highlighted the industry's stability and investment opportunities, underscoring the government's commitment to tackling challenges. Ali Ghamrawy, Chairperson of the Egyptian Drug Authority, presented data on pharmaceutical exports, detailing recent progress and ongoing efforts to support growth. These efforts include obtaining international accreditations, strengthening regional cooperation, and facilitating export procedures. Ghamrawy reported increases in exports to Zambia and Zimbabwe in 2023. Ghamrawy also noted a significant increase in exports of medicinal plants and herbs in 2023, reaching over $280m, as well as a rise in cosmetic exports to $700m in 2022 and 2023. Bahaa El-Din Zidan, Chairperson of the Unified Procurement Authority, outlined the work of specialized committees focused on simplifying factory establishment procedures and developing a unified strategy for localizing vaccine production in Egypt. Moreover, representatives from the industry, including Gamal El-Leithy of the Pharmaceutical Chamber of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, Riad Armanious from the Pharmaceutical Chamber, and Maged George of the Export Council of Medical Industries (ECMI), provided insights and suggestions. El-Leithy stressed the need for a clear drug pricing mechanism and emphasized that increasing exports requires modernizing factories and obtaining necessary approvals in target countries. George highlighted the ECMI's collaboration with the EDA to facilitate exports and discussed efforts to expand exports to African countries. Furthermore, Amr Mamdouh, chairperson and CEO of the Egyptian Medicine City Gypto Pharma, underscored the city's mission to cooperate with the private sector and announced ongoing efforts to attract international companies to manufacture in Egypt.
