High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh Pranay Verma and Investment Adviser of Bangladesh Prime Minister Salman Fazlur Rahman on Saturday jointly inaugurated a new plant of India’s leading pharmaceutical company, Sun Pharma, near Dhaka. This is the company’s second investment in Bangladesh with a production capacity of over 1 billion tablets and capsules per year.

Speaking at the ceremony, the High Commissioner highlighted the new investment as part of the growing economic and industrial engagement between India and Bangladesh and a visible symbol of the recent transformation of their relationship. He stressed that the plant, which is the first pharmaceutical unit in any Economic Zone of Bangladesh, is not just a testament to India’s continued commitment to promote partnership with Bangladesh, but also reflects the growing interest among Indian businesses to invest in Bangladesh.

Recognizing the significant progress made by Bangladesh’s Pharmaceutical Industry in the last few decades, Mr Verma underscored the emergence of Bangladesh as a key player in generic drug manufacturing.

The High Commissioner noted that India has been a credible partner in the growth story of Bangladesh’s Pharmaceutical Industry meeting about 30% of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) demand of Bangladesh. With a renewed focus on domestic production backed by a host of government incentives, he said that there are ample opportunities for Indian manufacturers to establish business partnerships with Bangladesh companies in the form of Joint Ventures, joint R&D efforts and technology tie-ups.

 Mr Verma highlighted that new Indian investments into Bangladesh demonstrated by Saturday’s event not only strengthens bilateral economic ties but also marks another step towards establishing stronger supply chain and value chain linkages between the two economies, which he said was the way to reinforce the economic ties between the two countries oriented towards the future.

By – Navalsang Parmar – Dhaka