By Marvin Sy
Philippine Star - Friday, October 5, 2007

MUMBAI – The Philippines has signed four business agreements here worth around $155 million, primarily on distributorships of pharmaceutical products.

President Arroyo witnessed the signing following her keynote address before the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).

The Philippines’ IPVG Corp. signed a memorandum of agreement with Credence Analytics Pvt. Ltd. for a special purpose joint venture vehicle that would provide business process outsourcing services to the banking and financial sector in various countries.

The deal is expected to generate around $50 million worth of investments in one year.

Macropharma Corp. and Emcure Pharmaceuticals Limited signed a five-year distributorship agreement worth $75 million.

Under the deal, Emcure would provide Macropharma with the exclusive marketing rights in the Philippines for drugs for renal diseases.

The third memorandum of agreement signed was between Panacea Biotech Ltd. of India and Family Vaccine and Specialty Clinics Inc. of the Philippines for the importation and distribution of medicine and vaccines.

The transaction value was pegged at $10 million for a period of two years.

The Philippine International Trading Corp. signed an agreement with State Trading Corp. of India Ltd. on trade cooperation and drug sourcing.

Under the MOA, PITC and STC would share organizational strengths and experience in international trading and handling of various commodities.

PITC president and CEO Jorge Judan said they hope to generate at least $25 million worth of business for the pharmaceutical industry with the signing of the agreement.

The STC would coordinate with Indian bulk drug manufacturers for the supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients to Philippine manufacturers of generic products.

Teddie Elson Rivera, president and chief operating officer of PITC Pharma Inc., a subsidiary of PITC, said that the importation of low-cost raw materials from India would effectively bring down the cost of generic drugs manufactured in the Philippines.

Rivera said that the PITC is close to achieving the target set by the President to cut down the prices of medicine by half.

PITC is a government-owned corporation engaged in the parallel importation of off-patent medicine for sale and distribution in the Philippines.

By sourcing commonly-used medicine from countries such as India where the prices of medicine are very low, local pharmacies would be able to offer branded medicine at lower prices.

Apart from medicine and pharmaceutical raw materials, the MOA allows export to India of fatty acids, virgin coconut oil, mining ore, fertilizer, processed food, cosmetics and personal care products, carrageenan, resins and adhesives, consumer electronic products, biodiesel and jatropha seeds and crude oil.

India in turn would export rice, sugar, wheat, corn, flour, cement and medical equipment to the Philippines on top of the drugs and raw materials.

The President also invited the pharmaceutical companies in India to set up production facilities in the Philippines so that they would be able to keep the Philippine market.

“You can use it as a base to export to farther markets like Northeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand,” she said.