Vietnam's pharmaceutical import turnover is forecast to reach 50 per cent of the entire market |
According to statistics published by the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in the first 10 months of this year, the pharmaceutical import turnover was $2.54 billion, up 11 per cent on-year. The main import markets of Vietnam are countries in Asia, America, and Europe.
In 2018, Vietnam spent $2.79 billion to import pharmaceuticals, a slight decrease against the $2.82 billion in 2017.
As of the end of September, France became the country having the largest import turnover with $298 million, up 28.7 per cent on-year, followed by Germany with $241.5 million, up 6.84 per cent on-year.
Especially, within three quarters, although the import turnover from Argentina was $11.01 million, but it saw an increase of 2.5 times or 149 per cent on-year.
Besides, Bangladesh joined the list of import markets with the turnover of $15.64 million.
According to a report published by Business Monitor International (BMI), the Vietnamese pharmaceutical market is estimated at $6.5 billion in this year, the figure is expected to increase by $16.1 billion by 2026 and the average increase in 2019-2022 will be 10.6 per cent.
Vietnam currently has 180 pharmaceutical manufacturers, including foreign-invested and local companies with 194 factories.
They need an average of 60,000 tonnes of materials for manufacturing, 80-90 per cent of which are imported from China and India.
M&A deals in the pharmaceutical sector are likely to increase as both foreign and domestic firms want a bigger slice of the cake.
Analysts at KPMG Vietnam forecast that healthcare spending is estimated to pick up from $16.1 billion in 2017 to $17.2 billion in 2018, and reach close to $20 billion in 2020.
This accounts for 7.5 per cent of Vietnam’s GDP and is likely to grow as more middle-class citizens can afford private healthcare and the Vietnamese population becomes older. VIR
Kim Oanh
The first time: Korean company acquires local pharmaceutical
JW Pharmaceutical Corporation acquired Euvipharm, becoming the first Korean company to take over a Vietnamese pharmaceutical company and operate it directly.
Vietnam emerges as a global pharmaceutical hub
According to experts, the boost in attractiveness of the Vietnamese market comes at a time when the business environment for drugmakers in neighboring countries has not been favorable.