The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Turkey (IEIS), organized a “Turkey – GCC Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Meeting” in Istanbul on April 1-2 with the cooperation of the Turkish Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (TPMDA) and the Gulf Cooperation Countries Council (GCC). In addition to the more than 20 official authorities of the GCC and member countries, representatives of companies were also in attendance.
In the meeting for which the opening speeches were delivered by TPMDA Chairman Dr. Saim Kerman and GCC Assistant General Secretary Dr. Abdullah A. Al Hashem, the legislation applications and market structures in Turkey and the KIK pharmaceutical industries were discussed.
In the speech made by TPMDA Chairman Dr. Saim Kerman he said: “The world is quickly globalizing, thus health problems are more easily solved through joint effort. Our country has a pharmaceutical industry that is at international standards. We believe that these types of activities will enable us to establish powerful cooperation with GCC countries in the fields of pharmaceuticals and medical devices”. GCC Assistant General Secretary Dr. Abdullah A. Al Hashem added, “We want to transfer the “know-how” in the pharmaceutical and medical devices sectors of your country to our country. Turkish companies must show more interest in the GCC countries markets. Both sides will benefit greatly from the establishment of extensive collaborations”.
IEIS, which continues to conduct intense activities to enable the Turkish pharmaceutical industry to become one of the world’s important producers and exporters, had been carrying out efforts in cooperation with the TPMDA to increase export to the GCC countries, which have been among the target markets in terms of pharmaceuticals for quite some time, and establish business connections. In this context, the TPMDA authorities and İEİS administrators had made a visit to Riyadh, where the GCC headquarters is located, last November.
The GCC, comprised of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman; was established to achieve coordination and integration between the member countries and enable the transition to similar applications in the fields of economy, commerce, finance, health, education, customs, communication and culture.