CPhI Southeast Asia broadens focus to highlight vibrant market
Adds two new co-located events to include equipment and packaging solutions
CPhI Southeast Asia will take place on 20-22 March at the Jakarta International Expo in Indonesia. With strong projections for attendance and rebookings already secured from high end exhibitors such as ACG, javaplant, BCN Peptides, Fuji Chemicals, Mensa Group, Procaps, Schott Pharma Packaging, Kalbe Group and SKY Softgel, this year’s event will feature an increased offering of learning summits and training workshops along with two additional co-located industry events. For the first time, CPhI Southeast Asia will include P-MEC for pharmaceutical machinery, laboratory equipment and analytical technology and InnoPack South East Asia for innovative packaging and drug delivery solutions.
The global CPhI portfolio centres on driving growth and innovation across the diverse sectors of the pharmaceutical industry, says organiser UBM Live. As part of this initiative, CPhI Southeast Asia was launched last year to highlight the vibrant ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) market and offer attendees and exhibitors direct access to a region with strong government support for pharmaceutical production, a large population of prospective customers and a dynamic and growing economy.
The event will be further complemented by the addition of the CPhI Southeast Asia Pharmaceutical Summit for 2013, which serves to deliver the latest in market insight with in-depth dialogues from global and local practitioners. The high-level summit programme will run in an add-on format from 20-21 March, offering exceptional networking opportunities and discussions on ASEAN harmonisation, trade and border regulations, the contract services industry in Southeast Asia and a local healthcare perspective with a full view into the pharmerging markets. The summit will cover IP protection, successfully bringing pharmaceuticals to market, generics production and alternative medicines.
In its first year, CPhI Southeast Asia made a big impression on exhibitors and attendees. ‘I am really impressed. Although it is the first time, it is really very good – it is already an international standout CPhI event,’ commented David Way of Colorcon, an exhibiting company from Singapore. Peter Liu of DSM in Singapore also noted that ‘it has been a very encouraging experience, particularly having had several of our key customers visit us.’
CPhI Southeast Asia exists to expand exhibitor and visitor networks in the local ASEAN pharma market through a unique platform that facilitates face-to-face discussions that otherwise may not happen. The addition of P-MEC serves to highlight the growth of the finished dosage and generics sectors, which is currently being driven by rapid growth in the manufacturing base of Southeast Asia. The introduction of InnoPack will further extend the scope of the event by bringing a focus to the important role that packaging plays in product development, safety, dosage and dispensing.
‘The location in Indonesia is unique, as it offers a firsthand look into the ongoing harmonisation happening across the ASEAN region,’ noted UBM Live Pharma Event Manager Martin Wilson. ‘Indonesia is currently the world’s fourth most populous country with around 238 million people and a CAGR of 11%, which is well above the world’s average.
‘That said, this is a market that can bring significant benefits to our customer base, with CPhI Southeast Asia providing a unique opportunity to engage with industry leaders and decision-makers from the region. We are pleased that the event was such a success in its first year with 220 exhibitors and 4,500 attendees, and we look forward to providing another focused, innovative event in a region that is actively building up infrastructure and encouraging foreign investment to our attendees and exhibitors in 2013.’
The 2013 return of CPhI Southeast Asia, with the addition of P-MEC and InnoPack will offer an effective venue for pharma professionals to make valuable business connections and maximise ROI both in Southeast Asia and across the globe. Beyond the strong growth in Indonesia, Vietnam’s pharma industry is expected to have a CAGR of 24%, with Malaysia and other countries in the region also poised for growth.
The Deputy Minister of Health highlighted this huge growth potential at CPhI Southeast Asia last year: ‘Rapid population growth and the improving economy are factors that will increase drug consumption here,’ he said. ‘The government’s 2014 social insurance programme has been designed to provide free healthcare for 76.4 million people, so if the poor people get sick, there is no need for them to pay, as everything is already paid for by the government.
‘Under such a situation, we have many opportunities for investors and drug manufacturers to produce and meet the need and demand for drugs to the community.’