AMMAN -- Jordan must increase its pharmaceutical exports in order to remain the region's leading drug manufacturer and exporter, a government official said.
In a recent interview with The Jordan Times, Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) Director General Hayel Obeidat said that although Jordan still leads the region in exports of pharmaceuticals, competition from neighbouring countries was threatening this status.
Some of these countries, he said, have recently increased their local drug production, causing a drop in their imports from Jordan.
Figures he presented showed a decline in exports and a rise in imports, and the Jordanian pharmaceutical sector's trade surplus fell 56 per cent last year from JD162 million to JD71 million.
The JFDA figures showed that the Kingdom exported JD433 million worth of medicine to 70 countries in 2011, a 13 per cent drop from JD499 million in 2010 and also below the JD451 million exported in 2009.
Between 2010 and 2011, the greatest decline in imports from Jordan was in Saudi Arabia, which witnessed a 25 per cent drop from JD132 million to JD99 million, according to the administration's figures.
Exports to Algeria took the second greatest hit, falling 23 per cent from JD106 million in 2010 to JD81 million last year.
At the same time, the Kingdom's imports of medicine have grown over the past three years, the JFDA figures showed, further tipping the country's trade balance in the pharmaceutical sector.
Jordan's drug imports rose by 7 per cent to JD362 million last year, compared with JD337 million in 2010 and JD317 million in 2009.
To stay in the lead, Obeidat said, "we should find new markets" for Jordanian pharmaceuticals.
© Jordan Times 2012
