Brunei seeks foreign pharmaceutical investors
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - The government wants to work with global pharmaceutical experts and invite them to invest and operate in Brunei to grow the industry here, said the chairman of the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) recently.
Dr Mohd Amin Liew Abdullah, who is also the deputy minister of finance, told The Brunei Times that the government intends to expand the “scope of activities within the pharmaceutical industry” which includes increasing the range of pharmaceutical products.
He, however, pointed out that Brunei needs to attract foreign director investments (FDIs) grow the local pharmaceutical industry.
Mohd Amin said the government needs to work with foreign companies that have massive experience and expertise in pharmaceuticals as the industry is a sophisticated and technical field.
“We need to bring in FDIs just like Simpor Pharma who are a joint-venture with us, to create that activity,” he said.
He added the government is working closely with Simpor Pharma Sdn Bhd to produce local products, and are helping them to market the products.
Simpor Pharma is Brunei’s pioneering contract manufacturer in compliance with the worldwide current Health Canada’s Good Manufacturing Practise (GMP) standard for pharmaceutical products and health supplements, including softgels, hard shell capsules, tablets, powders, and oral liquids, according to its website.
Simpor Pharma is a joint investment between Canadian firm Viva Pharmaceutical Inc, private equity fund Aureos (Brunei) Capital Sdn Bhd and a group of local investors.
A previous report said the $26 million manufacturing facility was established to produce sharia-compliant pharmaceutical products for export.
Its website stated they are to become the hub for exporting halal pharmaceutical products and health supplements in the global market.
Simpor’s pharmaceutical plant is a 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility situated on a 7.5-acre plot within Salambigar Industrial Site, the first in Brunei.
Dr Mohd Amin said an expansion of the indusry would open the door for local entrepreneurs to “play a bigger role in it”.
He said: “Hopefully in the future, we will be able to expand into other activities within the pharmaceutical industry, to create a bigger industry where our local entrepreneurs can play a bigger role in it.”
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