Investment Office President Burak Dağlıoğlu addressed the launch meeting held to mark global pharma company Boehringer Ingelheim's commencement of its localization plans in Türkiye in collaboration with Abdi İbrahim, a major player in Türkiye's pharmaceutical industry.
In his speech, Dağlıoğlu said the Turkish economy has expanded with the liberalization backed with significant reforms carried out since 2003 under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's leadership. Dağlıoğu stated that the Turkish economy posted an average annual growth of 5.1 percent and exports have surpassed USD 200 billion, while FDI inflows have totaled more than USD 230 billion since then.
Commenting on the new investment, Dağlıoğlu stated that the localization project is aimed at contributing to Türkiye's efforts in securing drug supply in areas including the central nervous system, diabetes, and chronic diseases such as cardiovascular.
Referring to sustainability and digitalization, Dağlıoğlu continued, “In its newly released report for the 1990-2015 period, the World Bank has defined Türkiye as a country that has moved up the ladder from limited production to advanced production and has positioned it as a country that is better integrated into the global supply chain.
The life sciences in general and the pharmaceutical industry in particular are some of the most crucial sectors for Türkiye. Investments in this area have drawn a lot of attention during the pandemic, as infrastructure investments by governments around the globe have been effective in the fight against the Covid-19. Thanks to the rapid commissioning of hospitals built through public-private partnership, Türkiye has proved to be a top-tier provider of healthcare services. The life sciences sector accounts for a considerable share in global FDI flows, and we believe Türkiye will receive more investments in this area."
Meanwhile, Boehringer Ingelheim Managing Director and Head of Human Pharma in META Mohammed Al-Tawil said, “Our localization project we carry out in collaboration with Abdi İbrahim also lays the groundwork for a major transfer of technology and know-how between Germany and Türkiye. Once the localization works are completed, one out of every two boxes of drugs in the human health portfolios will be produced in Türkiye over the next five years. This localization investment will enable our company to garner TRY 150 million for Türkiye in the medium-run, and TRY 1 billion in the long-run following the gradual phase of investments."
In his remarks on the new investment, Abdi İbrahim CEO Süha Taşpolatoğlu said, “Under this agreement between Türkiye's pharma giant Abdi İbrahim and one of the world's top 20 pharma companies Boehringer Ingelheim, we will produce products for the treatment of hypertension at Abdi İbrahim's facilities in Türkiye and Algeria."