An Indian joint venture between SMS Pharmaceuticals Ltd and  Sri Avantika Contractors and their Vietnamese partner plans to increase its investment in a high-tech pharmaceutical industrial park in Vietnam to $4-5 billion in the next 10-12 years.

The plan was revealed during a meeting between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Mr. Ramesh Babu, Chairman and Managing Director of SMS Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Mr. Narendra Reddy, Managing Director of Sri Avantika Contractors,  in New Delhi on July 31.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is now in New Delhi for a State visit to India between July 30 - August 1.

Their joint venture needs about 500 ha at Nghi Son Economic Zone in central Thanh Hoa province to build the pharmaceutical park with an investment capital of $200 million in the first phase, they said.

SMS Pharmaceuticals leader stressed that Vietnam is a dynamic developing country with business environment becoming more favorable to attract investors.

PM Chinh also had a separate meeting with Dharmesh Shah, Chairman and Founder of BDR Group, another name in India’s pharmaceutical industry, which opened its representative office in Vietnam in 2022 and is providing materials for cancer drug production to a number of factories in Vietnam.

Mr. Shah expressed desire to become a strategic and long-term investor in the pharmaceutical industry of Vietnam. The group is selecting a destination to invest in technology transfer and production of important kinds of drugs, particularly cancer drug.

At the meetings, PM Chinh spoke highly of its plans for cooperation, investment and technology transfer in Vietnam in the time ahead, and suggested it hold working sessions with the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and other ministries, agencies and localities to materialize the plans, thus building a pharmaceutical industry ecosystem in Vietnam, serving both domestic and foreign markets.  

Vietnam always supports and is willing to create favorable legal corridor for domestic and foreign businesses to operate in the country, including those from India, the PM said.