If you a pharmaceutical related company that wish to invest in Vietnam, do take note of what have been reported in Viet Nam News ( 27/09/06):

• “ The distribution of pharmaceuticals in Viet Nam is overly complex and has too many wholesalers acting as middlemen, Medicines were sold through a myriad of agents and around 18,000 State and privately operated pharmacies. All of these producers, distributors, wholesalers , agents, and pharmacies were able to provide pharmaceuticals to hospitals, creating chaos in drug prices;
• Hospitals also tended to defer payments, putting even more upward pressure on prices;
• The Government was not in a position to control the situation, and consumers were left to bear the burden and
• Viet Nam lacked clear regulations on drug distributors, prices and profits,. The Government would need to regulate the drug market while allowing market forces to determine prices.”

Good new is that:
Pharmaceutical Management Department director Cao Minh Quang said that his department was already preparing a circular to guide implementation of the Law on Pharmaceuticals under which distributors would have to post prices on 12,000 articles, firstly in three groups: drugs in reserve, essential drugs and primary drugs used in hospitals.
A recent survey conducted by the Viet Nam Pharmaceuticals Industry Association indicated that domestic drug prices were fairly stable, but that imported drug prices had been climbing at a rate of about 2 per cent per year.
France, India and China were leading sources of imported pharmaceuticals.

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