CAIRO: GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK CH) announced Sunday they will invest approximately LE 500 million in Egypt's healthcare sector. “Our main goal over the next five years is to focus this investment towards three aspects: manufacturing, employment, and advertising,” said Ambati Venu, vice president & general manager of GSK CH for Middle East at a press conference on 10 April. GSK, one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, will focus primarily on expanding products under the brand names of Sensodyne and Panadol, two products that are already widely distributed throughout the Egyptian market. “The Egyptian citizen already knows our products through advertising, but the consumer pays too much for these products as they are imported, or rather smuggled,” said GSK CH Country Manager of Egypt and Libya George Lawandi. “Now, we are looking to locally produce new, affordable products that will remain under the same brand names with the same high quality.” In collaboration with GSK, Egyptian company EVA-Pharma, the fastest growing pharmaceutical company in the MENA region, will be producing Sensodyne. Alexandria Pharmaceutical Company, on the other hand, will continue to produce and expand on Panadol medicines. “We've already signed an agreement with EVA Pharmaceuticals, which will help us boost locally-produced products and this is just the beginning,” Venu told Daily News Egypt. According to Samir Makary, professor of Economics at the American University in Cairo and president of Makary Consulting, Egypt saw an overall loss of $3 billion since January when the country witnessed an 18-day popular revolt that eventually toppled former president Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-old regime. As a long-term result, however, Makary predicted that the nation's economic future will be much brighter. “During the economic crisis over the past years, the country saw a 5.5 percent GDP growth when the world was suffering,” he said. “We did it before and we can do it again by increasing long-term investments.” Makary also predicted that the investment will increase jobs in the consumer healthcare sector by 7 to 8 percent over the next five years and in turn encourage other multinational companies to take similar steps by investing in Egypt's economy. Other experts also saw that the people's revolution, which called for democracy, equality, and a dignified life for Egyptians, was a significant step forward that will ensure a more stable and prosperous future for Egypt's economy. Secretary General of the Arab Investors Union Gamal El-Din Bayoumi believed that investors will now look at the Egyptian economy in a new light. “Before this revolution, some of the largest companies in the world would tell me they refused to invest in Egypt because of a tedious bureaucratic process and widespread corruption,” said Bayoumi. It was because of this that he also “encourages the youth who pushed for this revolution to remain committed and hold on to their demands because they will mean a lot for Egypt's future.” “In the past 70 days, we changed an entire regime and fired our government and appointed a new one; this shows the world that we aren't shying away from admitting our mistakes and changing for the better,” said Bayoumi. At a time that may seem difficult to many, Lawandi emphasized that GSK will stand “unwaveringly committed to the Egyptian market and embrace the bright future” it will hold. In light of recent events, Venu shared Lawandi's optimism. “The riskier the situation may seem now, the higher the achievements will be in the future. So, the smart thing to do is to invest now and not wait; that way we will already be ahead,” he said.
