JFDA commences 3rd Int’l Conference on Pharmaceuticals

AMMAN — The Jordan Food and Drug Administration’s (JFDA) Third International Conference on Pharmaceuticals — the Royal Vision for Achieving Drug Security, commenced in Amman on Monday.

The two-day conference, which marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Economic Modernisation Vision, was organised by the JFDA, with the support of the Jordanian Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (JAPM), Drugstore Owners Association (DOA) and the Local Acting Working Group in Jordan (LAWG-Jordan).

Addressing the conference, JFDA Director-General Nizar Mhaidat said that the pharmaceutical industry is among Jordan’s biggest exporters and strongest local industries. 

“This conference is a chance to stress how important it is to deliver quality improvements in the pharmaceutical industry that align with international standards,” Mhaidat said.

To achieve drug safety, it is vital to achieve strong integration in the regional economy among stakeholders from different Arab countries, thereby creating “strong Arab integration,” the JFDA director-general said.

Secretary-General of the JAPM Hanan Shboul presented the executive summary of the Jordanian pharmaceutical industry in the Economic Modernisation Vision. 

“The pharmaceutical industry, being among the Kingdom’s high-value industries, has been included within the fundamental growth drivers of the Economic Modernisation Vision,” Shboul said.

“Through the full implementation of the strategy, we seek to create 9,200 job opportunities by 2033,”according to Shboul, who is also the team lead of the pharmaceutical industry national team responsible for developing the sector’s objectives within the Economic Modernisation Vision. 

Currently, the sector has directly created around 6,800 jobs. However, every job generates “at least five” other employment opportunities in various relevant sectors, Shboul said.

Jordan’s pharmaceutical exports stand at around JD450 million, with the aim of increasing exports to JD2 billion, she noted.

“About seven years ago, Jordan started manufacturing biosimilars,” or biological medicines that are very similar to an already approved biological medicine, Shboul noted. 

In Jordan, there are 27 pharmaceutical factories, four of which were established in 2023. Further, there are 17 branches of Jordanian pharmaceutical companies distributed across eight countries, Shboul pointed out. 

According to Shboul, 99 per cent of the sector’s employees are Jordanians, and 37 per cent are women.

Speaking during one of the sessions, Bilal Al Hamouri, head of the investment promotion directorate at the Ministry of Investment, said that the domestic investment environment is “fertile ground” for pharmaceutical companies. 

He attributed the conducive environment to Jordan’s economic stability, strong monetary policies and longstanding free trade agreements.

“Jordan has the infrastructure and capacity needed for pharmaceutical factories. The infrastructure includes the industrial and development zones, which are serviced and licensed,” Hamouri said.

Customs duty and sales tax exemptions are provided to quality projects. “The pharmaceutical industry is among the main sectors benefitting from such exemptions,” Hamouri explained.

Day one of the conference also examined the regulatory updates that strengthen the JFDA’s role and position, as well as industry research and development and the investment needs of the sector.

The conference saw the participation of JAPM members, as well as DOA and LAWG representatives. Participants also included public and private sector representatives, as well as personnel from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply, and the Ministry of Investment.