News From : DagangHalal.com (09 Feb 2010)
BRUNEI is on its way to becoming a producer of halal pharmaceuticals, thanks to new guidelines that build on the Sultanate’s reputation for strictly adhering to Islamic principles when it comes to halal production.
For instance, Brunei is one of the Muslim countries whose Ministry of Religious Affairs is involved in the certification of halal food. The nascent Brunei Halal Brand has also been dubbed as a flagship brand in the diversification of the economy.
Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) Chief Executive Officer Vincent Cheong talks to The Brunei Times about the halal pharmaceutical guidelines and the government’s plans to attract investors in the field.
BT: When were the guidelines approved and who was involved in the process?
We have just received approval for the new halal pharmaceutical guidelines and that has been approved beginning of this year. The Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources is very much focused on the halal food side of business and on our end, we are very interested in halal pharmaceuticals and other halal components. Essentially, what the new guidelines mean for us is that it is going to be the first of its kind in the world and these guidelines have been endorsed by the Brunei Islamic Religious Council. What it entails is that it has got all the references, all the standards and procedures for companies who wish to manufacture pharmaceuticals.
Obviously for these guidelines, it is not just a BEDB thing, it involves all relevant ministries and agencies. BEDB is just one of the parties to this but we give full credit to the team who have gotten the guidelines up and running as it was hard work.
Why or how are these guidelines relevant for BEDB?
Why is it so important for us … at BEDB is because the establishment of these guidelines will be more effective to convincing investors or foreign investors who begin to look at Brunei as a location for the manufacturing of halal pharmaceuticals. Perhaps because these guidelines are the first in the world, so it will be good for us to use this as an opportunity to be the first mover, especially for Brunei’s case.
How did the idea for the guidelines come about?
BEDB was the one who initiated this because we had some investors who came to us previously who wanted to manufacture halal pharmaceuticals. One example is Viva, a pharmaceutical company from Canada, who are currently in partnership with a Brunei entity for the proposed manufacture and supply of halal-certified medicines, vitamins and nutritional supplements in the region.
With Viva, their approximate investment in Brunei is US$12 million ($17 million) and will create close to 100 jobs in Brunei.
Once Viva is successful, and we are sure that Viva will be successful, hopefully more and more companies start jumping into the bandwagon (in Brunei).
Besides that, we also have had consortium of Japanese companies who were also interested in halal pharmaceuticals manufacturing in Brunei. So with that, we basically said that it was good for Brunei to start establishing such guidelines and we got everybody together and through the work of everybody, it was very tough work, it was finally done and approved.
For us, what we want to ensure is that once it is up and running, we obviously will try to market this to foreign investors and see whether they have got some interest in setting up facilities or manufacturing plants in Brunei; say for example, one of the key factors that led to Viva coming to Brunei was our commitment or the Brunei government’s commitment to establish these guidelines to start their halal manufacturing facility in Brunei.
Will the halal pharmaceutical guidelines affect local importers?
I don’t think that it will affect the current situation in terms of people importing medicines. Today, being Muslims, you will note that it doesn’t mean when one is sick and have to consume medicines, halal or haram doesn’t come into place. But, if there was an alternative of halal medicines, certainly Muslims would prefer to take that.
As for health supplements, we don’t think that it is going to upset the market, what it will entail is that we hope to see more companies, of the manufacturing of halal medicines per se, but we don’t believe that it’s going to upset the market today of importing medicines.
Why is Brunei pushing for the halal sector now as something to diversify the economy?
Because we think that it is going to be the first of its kind in the world and eventually, what we hope is that all of us, the relevant agencies here, will work together to coordinate and make these set of guidelines into international standards and try to get other countries on top of other guidelines that we have and spread them internationally. So, to a certain extent, we believe that these guidelines will be useful for us because it will create, make or give Brunei a place on the world map, especially through the halal sector.
We already have a strong Islamic credibility but we believe that it will strengthen our credibility internationally. So one of the things that will be desirous for us to go to forward will be to establish this as an international benchmark.
What kind pharmaceutical products can we expect?
What we are seeing will be generic off-the-shelf medicine, like Panadol and health supplements, and we think these are probably two areas which will be easier for companies to venture into as a start of halal pharmaceutical guidelines.
What will be the target market for these products?
I think inevitably, a lot of these products will have to be exported because the Brunei market is too small to sustain domestic consumption, so whatever companies venturing into Brunei will have to look at the overseas market. It is good if they can find a consumer for the Brunei market for that product, but largely, I think that the bulk of the market for the product will be exported through their own marketing.