Vietnam will launch the first online medicine transaction floor late this month at the address of www.santhuoc.vn [1], the government said on its website on Dec. 2. The floor is being built by the Vietnam Pharmaceutical Companies Association (VPCA) with aims to stimulate the domestic consumption and improve people’s awareness of made-in-Vietnam drugs and medical trademarks. This will be a new platform for both domestic and foreign-funded businesses which specialize in producing and trading drugs, medical equipment, technologies and services.
Currently, around 1,000 pharmaceutical enterprises, of which 30% are foreign-invested, are operating in Vietnam. The Southeast Asian country’s production capacity now meets only 50% of its drug demand. The pharmacy sector targets to meet 60% and 70% of the local demand in 2010 and 2015, respectively.
