Following the success of the past edition of “Lifestyle made in Italy” – B2B event dedicated to the furniture and interior design sector – ICHAM has decided to launch a new version of the same event, but focused on the Pharmaceutical and Para-pharmaceutical sector: Pharmacy Made in Italy.
The B2B meetings were held between 15-16 January at MGallery Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi. Despite the initial scepticism of Italian firms, who had never been involved in such an event in Vietnam before, five companies took part in the talks, alongside more than 20 buyers and potential partners from Vietnam, Korea, Singapore and Thailand, supported by their respective Italian Chambers of Commerce. Head of the economic and trade section of the Embassy Mr Antonino Tedesco also took part in the event: after a speech about the current situation of the pharmaceutical market in Vietnam, he encouraged the Italian companies to invest in this expanding market.
Although in this edition the five Italian companies presented different products, the Asian buyers proved coherent with their requests. Specifically, two companies dealt with generic pharmaceutical products, one with ophthalmic products, one with skin cosmetics and one with medical devices. The event involved two intense days of B2B meetings among companies and a networking dinner at Casa Italia, ICHAM’s Hanoi headquarter.
As mentioned above, Pharmacy made in Italy had the purpose of promoting the export of Italian pharmaceutical products to Asia, specifically to Vietnam. This is due to the excellent performance Italy has reached in this sector over the last year. In 2018 a historical record has been achieved by Italian pharmaceutical industry, reaching a production worth 31.2 billion EUR – exceeding the 30 billion EUR of Germany, who has always been the European leader in the sector. Despite the apparently slight gap, it has been a striking outcome, which will for sure push our export (especially to South East Asia), for the combination of investments and exports has made this sector the first one in Italy. From 1991 to 2017 the value of exports shifted from 1,3 billion EUR to 24,8; which means that if medicals were used to be ranked 57th among Italian economic sectors, they are now ranked 4th out of 119 (only transports and mechanics performed better).
These data, and the fact that the Vietnamese Government is currently working towards the development of a universal sanitary plan providing all the residents with basic medical care, has made Pharmacy Made in Italy an incredible opportunity. We foresee a prosperous future for the Italian pharmaceutical industry in Vietnam and hope the next editions of this event will involve a growing number of companies willing to catch this opportunity.
ICHAM is proud of the outcome and wishes that Pharmacy made in Italy could keep backing pharmaceutical importers and exporters.