Feature: Small pharma firm helping Afghanistan achieve self-sufficiency in medicines

Over a dozen people that include some women work in a small pharmaceutical plant in Bagrami area in the eastern edge of Kabul City where they produce different kinds of medicine.

"Within my limited resources, I am trying to help my country achieve self-sufficiency in pharmaceutical products," Mohammad Yaqub, managing director and owner of SunPharma, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Built in a 400 square meters lot three years ago, the pharmaceutical firm has been producing over a dozen types of medicines, Yaqub, in his early forties, said. He said he started his business with only 1 million U.S. dollar capital.

Yaqub said that now his firm is supplying different kinds of ordinary medicines labeled "Made in Afghanistan" to the local markets.

"We started with just eight kinds of medicines but now we have 17 brands of locally-produced medicines that we supply to the local drugstores," Yaqub said.

Yaqub said that he hopes the Afghan people would buy locally- made medicines to make small businesses like his to succeed. He said the products that they make can compare with foreign-branded ones in efficacy and quality but are cheaper.

Wearing white and green uniforms, the staff and employees of SunPharma work only on one shift from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. six days a week except for Friday, which is a holiday for Muslim in Afghanistan.

According to Yaqub, SunPharma now produces a variety of paracetamol or pain killers, antibiotic capsules and syrups as well as tablets and syrups for cough and ordinary pulmonary ailments. He said the firm would produce more kinds of medicine in the years ahead to help reduce the country's dependence on foreign medicines.

He also said that most of the raw materials used in the manufacture of their medicines are imported from China.

"Presently, I have only 20 workers, including 11 women. Male employees are in white uniforms and females in green ones. In the coming days, I intend to hire more personnel depending on the volume of work and the demand for our products. I hope the public would patronize our products," Yaqub said.

Although 13 years after its fall from power, the threat of the outlawed Taliban is still present in Afghanistan and suicide bomb attacks still continue in different parts of the country. Yet despite these threats, there has been a perceptible improvement in the business climate in the country, especially with the installation of the new unity government headed by President Asraf Ghani.

Billions of U.S. dollars have been invested in reconstruction, mining, transport, medicines, agriculture, and other sectors of the economy. But the country is still largely dependent on foreign aid and still importing essential items, including medicines, worth billions of U.S. dollars annually.

According to Yaqub, the Afghan government should support small entrepreneurs like him through grants and low-interest loans so that the country would become less dependent on imports.

It is also important for the government to ensure peace and stability in the country for the business community to prosper, Yaqub said. Endi