‘USAID’s JCP to assist local pharmaceutical firms’

AMMAN — The Jordan Competitiveness Programme (JCP) will help train the country’s pharmaceutical sector on how to penetrate the Saudi Arabian market, with the neighbouring country planning to introduce a new system for the filing of medicines.

Under the current system, pharmaceutical companies wishing to enter the Saudi market have to manually file the application to obtain approval for the pharmaceutical product in question, USAID JCP Chief of Party Wissam Rabadi told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

In 2016, Saudi Arabia will start implementing a new system whereby pharmaceutical companies are required to file these applications online, according to Rabadi.

“This is a new system and it may cause several issues for Jordanian companies. They need to be aware of the how to use it, and we will help train them,” Rabadi said.

He added that the JCP will collaborate with the Jordan Food and Drug Administration in this respect.

“Being familiar with the new system will help the Jordanian companies increase their exports to Saudi Arabia, which is a very important and strategic market for the pharmaceutical sector,” said Rabadi.

The JCP will bring the new system to Jordan to train Jordanian companies on using it and enhance their capabilities in this regard, he said.

Jordan’s annual pharmaceutical exports are estimated at $100 million. Jordanian-manufactured medicines penetrate some 75 markets across the world.