SK-PHARMACEUTICALS MET WITH THE MINISTER OF HEALTH OF IRAN

Today, at the site of the Unified distributor, a meeting was held with the Iranian delegation headed by the Minister of Health and Medical Education of the Islamic Republic of Iran Bakhrom Eynullahi, with the participation of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Kazakhstan Ali Akbar Jowkar.

Also present on the Iranian side were Director of the Department of International Cooperation Mohammad Hossein Niknam, Director of the Center for Health and Working Conditions Jafar Jandaki, Head of the Public Information Center Pedram Pak Oyin, Director of the International Department of the Food and Pharmaceutical Organization Hamid-Reza Inanlu.

The Kazakhstan side at the meeting, along with the management of the Unified distributor, was also represented by the top officials of the Committee for Medical and Pharmaceutical Control of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Department of Drug Policy of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the National Center for Expertise of Medicines and Medical Devices.

Iran is one of the key partners of Kazakhstan in the Persian Gulf. Diplomatic relations between the countries were established in 1992. Today, the country attaches great importance to strengthening bilateral relations with Iran as a strategic partner in the Caspian Sea region.

During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of bilateral cooperation in the field of medical and pharmaceutical industries, including issues of attracting investments, as well as other issues of mutual interest.

The key area of partnership that the parties discussed on the agenda was the pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical companies in Iran are among the most developed in the Middle East and North Africa region with in-house development potential.

Chairman of the Board of the Unified Distributor Erkhat Iskaliev spoke about the unified distribution system and presented the investment opportunities of the industry and the conditions of government benefits and preferences, the high potential of the Kazakh pharmaceutical market and the prospects for its development. It should be noted that the support measure in the pharmaceutical industry is provided by the Unified distributor in the form of concluding long-term contracts.

It was especially emphasized that localization of production of original drugs with high added value at domestic production sites, the creation of R&D centers and the implementation of a cluster initiative play a huge role in the development of domestic production.

In turn, Nurlan Iskakov, Chairman of the Committee for Medical and Pharmaceutical Control of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, spoke about the system for admitting medicines to the Kazakh market, noting that the country has a whole system of regulatory mechanisms.

Bahrom Eynullahi, in turn, expressed interest in concluding a cooperation agreement between the ministries of health of Kazakhstan and Iran. Along with this, a readiness was voiced to buy Kazakh drugs and supply their pharmaceutical products to the domestic market.

As a result of the meeting, an agreement was reached on the need to develop an action plan for the implementation of joint projects, as well as local elaboration of issues of transfer of Iranian production technologies and their deep localization on the territory of the republic. To further explore all issues, a joint round table was initiated.

In conclusion, the parties voiced the possibilities of increasing bilateral cooperation in the field of pharmaceutical production and outlined the prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan as a whole.

It is worth noting that the key purpose of the official visit of the Iranian delegation to Kazakhstan was participation in the 7th Meeting of the Ministers of Health of the SCO Member States, with the participation of countries such as Kazakhstan, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

During the meeting, the Plan of Basic Measures for the Development of Cooperation among the SCO Member States in the field of healthcare for 2025-2027 will be approved.