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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Supplement Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters More Irish medicine
by Rehab Saad
for Egyptian poultrySenator Edward Haughey, chairman of Norbrook Laboratories and a member of the Upper House in the Irish parliament, has visited Egypt as part of a Middle East tour to promote his company's new medical products and also to forge better business relations with Egypt.
Norbrook specialises mainly in pharmaceutical products for veterinary use, and is about to launch its new product for humans. The company is considered one of the top ten multinationals in its field, selling its products in 110 countries. It has in excess of 7,000 registrations (licences to sell) around the world, and is licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture sterile veterinary injections outside the US for import and sale in the US.
"In reality, the purpose of my visit with my team is to launch our medical division in Egypt to improve our very substantial business with your country," said Haughey. Norbrook has only one distributor in Egypt, Agripharma, that is doing a very good job, he said. "We are hoping to expand that relationship by increasing the number of products we export to Egypt. We are also looking at the medical area and assessing the Egyptian market to see how we can cooperate and distribute our new medical products, mainly antibiotics used for injections," he said.
Such visits are very important since they provide an opportunity to sit down, talk and get to know what each side requires so that "we can do good business together", Haughey said. "Moreover, if we find we can justify entering this market, and we make good commercial deals, we will certainly think of having a partner in Egypt," he added.
Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland are considered Norbrook's key markets accounting for an estimated 65 per cent of its business, whereas the African market represents just 9 per cent and the Middle East 7 per cent.
"We are having good and strong relationships with the Middle East, but the problem here is that you don't have as many red meat producing animals as they have in Europe or the US," he commented. "However, you have more poultry than European countries. So our company decided to focus more on poultry [in this region], and this is what I have been discussing in Egypt," he said.
Chairman of Agripharma El-Sayed El-Ganaini said, "Norbrook always encourages the Egyptian product. We have a pharmaceutical factory in Al-Obour City, and we produce Egyptian products made by Egyptian workers. But we import some kinds of medicine that we cannot produce in Egypt. For example, Norbrook is known for its high quality products like penicillin in liquid form."
Egypt has the experience and facilities that qualify it to be a pioneer in the Middle East and North Africa, he added. "I believe it will be a promising market for exportation."
Peter Gunning, the Irish ambassador to Egypt, told the Weekly that there are many forms of cooperation between Egypt and Ireland. "There was a big food exhibition in which Ireland participated. It was attended by the Irish minister of agriculture as well as Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali, and Minister of Foreign Trade Ahmed Geweili," he said.
The Irish government extended an invitation to Geweili to visit Ireland in an effort to enhance economic ties between the two countries. "Ireland is a member of the European Union, and we will try to help create a partnership between the European Union and Egypt. This will boost economic cooperation between us," the ambassador said.
