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RIYADH: ��������Ƶn General Investment Authority (SAGIA) granted the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. 100 percent ownership of its business in the Kingdom to, among other things, import, export and trade in products, permitting a supply of quality innovative and essential medicines directly to the Saudi market.
The new license is effective immediately.
Majid Al-Qassabi, minister of commerce and investment, and chairman of SAGIA’s board of directors, said: “As one of the international companies investing in the Kingdom, Pfizer has been granted a trading license with 100 percent ownership, a step that will contribute to the expansion of its activities for the Saudization of the pharmaceutical industry in ��������Ƶ.
"The company proposed a distinct action plan for future projects and the Saudi government looks forward to providing Pfizer with the support it needs, as part of an effective partnership between the public and the private sector in order to achieve the development goals of the Kingdom, which are crystallized by Vision 2030, and part of which aims to enhance the role of the private sector in the Saudi economy.”
Pfizer plans to open in 2017 a facility in the King Abdullah Economic City to manufacture 16 of its leading medicines.
The trading license will also allow the company to consider many other investment projects aimed at advancing the health care goals of the National Transformation Program (NTP 2020), which is the first phase of Vision 2030, spearheaded by the Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA) chaired by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
John Young, group president, Pfizer Essential Health, said: “We are honored to be one of the first companies to receive fast-track approval of a trading license.
"This is yet another step in our long-term commitment to the Kingdom and a reflection of our shared commitment, with the government, to provide a continued reliable supply of innovative and essential medicines to Saudi patients.”
He underlined that Pfizer’s obtaining the trading license from the SAGIA demonstrates the shared commitment to developing the Kingdom’s healthcare market.
“Pfizer Inc. has set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of healthcare products and its global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world's best-known consumer healthcare products,” said Young.