RIYADH: Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) signed an agreement in Riyadh on Monday with leading biopharmaceutical company Pfizer for the establishment of a multimillion dollar manufacturing plant with a capacity to produce around 1 billion tablets and capsules a year.
The agreement was inked between SAGIA adviser Prince Saud bin Khaled Al-Faisal and Guy Lallemand, regional president of Pfizer for Africa and Middle East for Pharmaceutical Businesses, at the Faisaliah Hotel on Monday.
US Ambassador James B. Smith, Secretary General of Economic Cities Authority Mohanud A. Hilal, and Bulent Atlig, vice president, emerging markets leader for Pfizer global supply, were also present at a press conference which preceded the signing ceremony.
Atlig told Arab News that the plant is a multimillion project which will be built on a 65,000 sq. meter area located within the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Jeddah.
The company plans to produce popular brands that are sold in the local market which would include brands such as Lipitor and Viagra, the vice president said, adding that the raw materials will be found both within the country and outside the Kingdom.
"We hope to do the ground breaking early next year and we would be completing the administrative and the distribution centers in 2014."
The production is expected to begin in 2015 when oral doses such as tablets and capsules will be produced followed by packaging. "We will initially produce 100 million tablets and capsules with an ultimate target of 1 billion a year," he noted, adding that the company's products will be catering to the local market during its early phase of production.
Besides harnessing foreign expertise for production, local manpower will be hired and they will be given adequate training.
"Initially, we will be employing 100 to 200 people for the project," Atlig said, indicating that the company would increase Saudi manpower at every level.
Pfizer has a total of 85 plants throughout the globe and the plant in the Kingdom would have state-of-the-art facilities fully equipped with an end-to-end manufacturing facility which would also include quality testing.
Hilal, who spoke on behalf of the Kingdom's economic cities, said that the proposed project is a world-class facility that brings in foreign investment to the Kingdom.
"Our foreign investment policies have attracted investors from all parts of the world," Hilal said, adding that they have created a conducive environment for foreign direct investments because of the Kingdom's vibrant economy supported with attractive investment opportunities and incentives.
"Besides the local market, the Kingdom could supply goods to 300 million people living in the region and it also has more than 1.2 billion Muslims who visit the holy cities on pilgrimage.
"Saudi patients are expected to benefit from improved access to Pfizer's medicines, the new plant will contribute to the commercial and economic development of the national economy, and its development is also expected to create new employment opportunities for the locals."
Congratulating Pfizer for taking up a new venture in the Kingdom, Smith said that he was happy that US companies are coming into the Kingdom to develop commercial interests. "We have 47,000 Saudi students reading in various US universities and colleges for their higher education, (and) we hope to develop the business relations too with the Kingdom," Smith added.
The United States is the largest single country trade partner to the Kingdom, enjoying bilateral trade worth $33 billion.
© Arab News 2011
