Kazakh Invest jointly with SK-Pharmacia developed INVESTMENT GUIDE BOOK
The meeting of the Council of Foreign Investors under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, held on November, 18 this year, addressed more in depth the measures to restore economic and investment activities in Kazakhstan due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed the importance of developing the domestic pharmaceutical industry. The President highlighted that by 2025 Kazakhstan expects to increase the share of its own pharmaceutical production in the country upto 50%. Currently, the share of domestic producers in the local market makes up 17% in value terms.
Additionally, the production of medical equipment and consumables will be actively developed. These areas are open for investment, and such projects, as mentioned, will receive full support from the state.
It’s worth noting that the Government of Kazakhstan has adopted a Comprehensive Plan for Pharmaceutical Industry Development until 2025, which provides for increasing the share of its own pharmaceutical production upto 50% and launching over 30 new large pharmaceutical enterprises.
In order to fulfill the instructions of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and implement the Comprehensive Plan for Pharmaceutical Industry Development, SK-Pharmacia, jointly with Kazakh Invest, developed an INVESTMENT GUIDE BOOK for potential investors. The goal of the guide book is to provide a platform for large drug brands from packaging to a full production cycle to enter the country, based on one-stop-shop principle.
INVESTMENT GUIDE BOOK is designed to provide information about available investment preferences and to ensure openness and transparency of procedures, both for domestic and foreign investors. Its task is to give support to investors at all stages of implementing an investment project, timely solving relevant issues, a single contact point between investors and the state, based on one-stop-shop principle.
The section “Procedures for purchasing drugs and medical goods from domestic producers” fully describes the procedure to conclude long-term contracts to supply medicines, medical devices and medical equipment, the procedure to purchase under contract manufacturing, criteria for concluding contracts and composition of the tender committee.
The section “Standard of the public service of drugs and medical goods registration” contains detailed instructions on the procedure for state registration, re-registration and amendments to the registration file of drugs or medical goods, as well as the procedure for forming the purchase lists of drugs and medical goods.
They also updated the entire list of regulatory legal acts regulating the issues of drug supply, price regulation, purchasing rules for medicines and medical goods and relevant pharmaceutical practices.
The information and analytical block includes the structure of the pharmaceutical market of Kazakhstan and the analysis of SK-Pharmacy’s purchases under long-term contracts over the past 10 years.
The List of positions of the Single Distributor List for 2021, not announced by domestic producers will be also useful for potential investors.
All materials for forming the investment climate are designed and provided in a clear format for the investment community. The document also includes the existing measures of the state support represented by the financial and investment institutions of the Baiterek Holding, Qazindustry, and the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC).
The information block of the Baiterek Holding presents instruments for lending/providing guarantees for an investment project, equity financing under the Concessional Financing Program, leasing financing to purchase equipment, and subsidizing part of the interest rate on a loan, etc.
The tools of the single center to coordinate the work on attracting investments and promoting the investment attractiveness of the Republic (AIFC) include the provision of tax, visa and labor privileges, as well as court and arbitration on the basis of the English law.
All information of INVESTMENT GUIDE BOOK is also presented in English and Kazakh languages and will be updated on an ongoing basis, taking into account changes and additions to the relevant legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
For reference: SK-Pharmacia is a single distributor of medicines. The company purchases medicines within the guaranteed amount of free medical care. The company also stores medicines, organizes logistics processes for state medical institutions. Since 2011, “SK-Pharmacia” has become the organizer of the purchase of medical equipment at the expense of the republican budget, as well as its further transfer to healthcare organizations on a financial lease basis.