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Czech Pharmaceuticals are Making an Impact on the Kuwaiti Market

The pharmaceutical market in the Gulf region has registered a robust growth in recent years and there is no sign of it abating any time soon. Projected growth for 2018 stands at 12 percent, reaching a market value of USD 69.4 billion. The robust market dynamics, a population of almost 50 million with a growing appetite for high-quality medicaments, food supplements and pharmaceuticals, and high GDP per capita mean that this market is extremely attractive for European pharmaceutical companies.
 

The market in the Gulf region and specifically in Kuwait offers great business opportunities to Czech pharmaceutical and food-supplement companies with original and innovative products, as is demonstrated by the example of Dr Müller Pharma - a prominent Czech producer of drugs, medical devices, cosmetics and food supplements. In 2013, Dr Müller established its presence in the Gulf region by partnering with Gulf-based pharmaceutical company M.A.P fzE (known as MAP), a company with long years of expertise with the marketing and sales of pharmaceutical products across the Gulf region. According to the marketing director of MAP, Mr. Mohamed Riyad, his company is successful because of its superior market-research capacity, long experience in pharmaceuticals market access and its discerning eye for business opportunities. The partnership between Dr Müller and MAP has since developed into an exceptionally successful business operation not only in Kuwait, but also in Saudi Arabia and some other countries in the Gulf region. With its know-how and connections, MAP was essential in registering, marketing and selling the Czech company’s products in Kuwait, mostly to institutional buyers like hospitals and polyclinics and the Kuwaiti ministry of health.

An experienced and reliable local partner with the right connections can do wonders for new entrants to the market, as the challenges related to GCC market access are plentiful. To start with, finding the right business partner is in itself challenging enough for a newcomer faced with an unfamiliar business environment. Add to this the high demands and costs of logistics that are due to the challenging temperature and climate conditions of the region, a highly complex and often non-transparent regulatory framework, the common delays in registration and certification procedures, language barriers, high up-front investment requirements and all the pitfalls associated with doing business in a region that differs substantially in its mentality and life style from European norms. According to Dr Müller, “it would be quite impossible to achieve commercial success of our products in the Gulf region without our partner, MAP. They have shown a keen understanding of the local markets and the needs and preferences of the local customers. We were lucky to find such a capable and trustworthy partner.”