A partnership between the Brazilian Association of Pharma Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Raw Material (Abiquif) and Apex-Brazil plans to advance the internationalization of the industry and increase exports of their products.
The plan is to invest over three million dollars in promotion abroad during 2012. The agenda includes going to international fairs, business meetings and business intelligence studies.
The goal is to provide tools to help the companies to compete in foreign markets. Apex-Brazil the government with information for the creation of strategic tools for the industry, and allows the formulation of appropriate policy for the area.
The project lays on four structural axes.
Market information – characteristics of target markets, prospecting and missions. Promotion – Apex-Brazil uses projects and fairs that bring together buyers and sellers permit.
Training and cultural change – courses and workshops to promote the development of export activity.
Regulatory front – working with the government on bureaucracy issues that impact competitiveness.
Brazil is the 7th largest economy in pharmaceuticals. According to IMF Health Institute, by the end of 2015 it should be on the fifth place.
José Correa da Silva, Chairman of Abiquif says that one of the advantages of internationalization is the resulting process improvement and standardization of production.
Industry snapshot
According to data from Abiquif in 2010, Brazil exported around U.S. $ 1.7 billion in medicines and pharmaceutical products, representing growth of 22.5%, in comparison with 2009, and more than 100% over 2007. However, the trade balance of pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmaceutical chain is negative. In 2010, the deficit recorded was U.S. $ 6.339 billion, representing an increase of 25% over 2009, when it closed at $ 5.057 billion.
Pros
According to economist Virginia Eickhoff Haag, Brazilian pharmaceuticals has a state of the art industrial park, diversity of portfolio, with large-scale production, as well as some innovative products.
Cons
On the other hand, it is necessary attention to factors such as cost of production, lack of export culture, bureaucracy and ultimately delay in payment which is not favorable when compared to the one adopted by international competition.
Apex-Brazil role
Apex-Brazil has more than 80 projects in different sectors, from food to airline shares, each with its specificity. The Agency is divided into management groups, each with specific projects, and Abiquif is one of them.
Integrated scheme
My experience advising on international strategies has demonstrated that programs like this one are extremely valuable. It is great to have Apex-Brazil working on the institutional front. At the end of the day what the company wants is to create value. More revenue with minimum costs. Therefore, the best scheme is articulating forces: company, specialized consultant, government agency, industry association.
Step by step
With what we call the “progressive approach” method, we can focus the marketing research in the specific bullets of the company and search for competitive advantage. Please visit our About us page for detailed info on our consulting services. Also, feel free to write us your specific question as not everything we do is there, yet.
BRAZILGLOBAL.NET 