Expo to replace foreign medicine and establish Nepali medicine: Prabhat RungataKathmandu. Nepal Pharma Expo 2024 is being held at Bharatpur in Chitwan from March 8th to 10th under the organization of the Nepal Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. Expo has been held every two years since 2005 to promote Nepali medicine. Now, the preparations for the Expo are going on at a fast pace. A conversation with Expo coordinator Prabhat Rungta regarding Expo preparations.
How far are the preparations for the Expo?
We had prepared to hold an expo in Kathmandu. But since there is no vacancy in the exhibition hall at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu, we have also started saving the Expo in Chitwan this time. About 95 percent of the preparations for the Expo have been completed. The work has been completed, from the stall booking to the design of the expo venue. One hundred fifty domestic and foreign stalls will be kept at the Expo. We have already completed two expos in Chitwan.
Why the need for an Expo?
Expo aims to bring the government, people, doctors, and drug stores under one umbrella and inform them about Nepali medicine. For the past 20 years, we have held expos promoting Nepali medicine. Twenty years ago, the market share of Nepali industrial medicine was only 10 to 12 percent. At the Expo, we have been informed about what the Nepali pharmaceutical industry is doing and what technology it is bringing to produce medicine. Thus, by the time we reached the Nabau Expo, we had increased the market of Nepali medicines to 45 to 50 percent with our hard work and ability.
We aim to sell Nepali medicine in Nepal and convince the state that we can export it to other countries like Western carpets and shoes. We can export high-quality medicines made in Nepal to foreign countries. Unlike other industries, the pharmaceutical industry is a discipline and system that follows the standards of the government and the World Health Organization.
What do Nepali people get?
At the Expo, the general public will be able to get direct information about the quality of Nepali medicines. Now, there are various types of low-quality medicines in the market. While we are aware of such drugs, Nepalese people can get to know from the exhibition how many reliable drugs the indigenous pharmaceutical industry is producing. Similarly, Chitwan's business also increases during the Expo.
How easy has it been to promote medicine with an expo?
Now, there are 82 pharmaceutical industries in Nepal. Three and a half hundred medicines from foreign companies are available in the Nepali market. Even now, most of them belong to the same foreign companies. It is necessary to replace those foreign companies and establish the Nepali industry. Yes, we are promoting Nepali medicines through the Expo. Because of the Expo, the demand for our medicine is going abroad.
What are the main attractions of the Expo?
Foreign guests are likely to visit Gambia, Cambodia. They are talking about taking some of our medicine products abroad. The main attraction for the consumers is what new technology has come in the Expo, what kind of equipment is coming, and how it is tested.
In the same exhibition, we will create an atmosphere of meeting with the industrialists by putting the foreign youth in one place. We will have a human research station at the Expo itself. At that station, the youth will keep the resume for the pharmacist, manager of their sector, MR, and we will keep a standard supply drop box and give it to all the industries.
Is the Expo only a display of medicine-making technology or a display of technology?
At the Expo, information is given about the technology of making medicine. There is information about how the medicine is made. Now we are getting technology from outside for the Expo. When the Expo machine comes to Nepal, there is a problem due to the issue of keeping the deposit. They take 17-18 months to return the deposit. The friend who came last year was very busy. It would have been better if the bank had given a guarantee rather than bail.
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