📷OSAPIEA Undersecretary Jose Edwiniel “Joee” Guilas |Facebook
The President’s Special Assistant for Investment and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick Go on Monday, 01 July 2024, urged concerned national government agencies to ease doing business in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries to attract investors and bring down the costs of medicine and medical devices in the country.
“Providing accessible and affordable medicine and medical devices is a noble goal. To realize this, we need to synergize and work together and create an environment for new businesses to invest in the Philippines and for existing businesses who are already here to expand their operations in the country,” said Secretary Go in a speech read by Undersecretary Jose Edwiniel “Joee” Guilas held at the Novotel Manila Araneta City in Quezon City.
Secretary Go identified the so-called three pain points currently faced by the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries that cause unnecessary delays in setting up their businesses in the county.
These include the bureaucratic nature of existing processes of regulatory agencies, difficulty in exporting and importing medicine, and the difficulty of international pharma companies in investing in the Philippines.
To address this, PBBM’s Economic Czar offered the following recommendations. On the bureaucratic nature of regulatory agencies, Sec. Go proposed that the government considers the certificates of countries with higher certified standards as complaint with local regulations and standards.
On importing and exporting medicine, Sec. Go mentioned that an Administrative Order shall be issued soon to streamline processes for the approval of certificates for pharmaceutical products.
Finally, on the difficulty to operate in the Philippines, Sec. Go said that the government is looking at putting exclusive ecozone for pharma manufacturing.
The event is the joint briefing on the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), Department of Health (DOH), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA)’s initiatives on medical drug and device manufacturers. (ROSE NOVENARIO)
