Illustrative image (Source: AFP) Singapore (VNA) – Singapore’s exports of pharmaceutical products have surged since the beginning of this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic fosters worldwide stockpiling of drug ingredients.
The country’s pharmaceutical output has increased by 86 percent so far this year, with April’s shipments surging 174 percent year-on-year.
According to Fitch Solutions, Singapore is one of the few countries in the world that exports more pharmaceuticals than it imports. The nation has more than 50 manufacturing facilities, including plants owned by eight of the world’s 10 biggest pharma firms.
The US, Europe and Japan were Singapore’s biggest export destinations for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in recent months.
How Ti Hwei, President of the Singapore Association of Pharmaceutical Industries, said that companies and governments around the world are building large inventories of APIs and drugs to ensure supplies of medicines remain uninterrupted and can be made close to market.
Singapore’s biomedical industry, which employs more than 24,000 people, accounted for about 20 percent of the manufacturing sector in 2019 which in turn made up about a fifth of GDP./.
VNA
