A new pharmaceutical company, another sign of Oman's growing industrial diversification, is due to come up in the country's southern region at the Raysut Industrial Estate in Salalah. Oman Pharmaceutical Products Company (OPPC), a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Sultanate's Ajay Group of Industries, has selected the southern city for its location keeping in mind Salalah Port's growing importance and the potential of the free trade zone around it.

OPPC will produce hormones, calcium supplants, antacids, painkillers and antibiotics. The factory, being built at a cost of RO10 million, has as its technical collaborator Mumbai-based Elder Pharmaceuticals, which is majority-owned by the Ajay Group.

"Elder will provide us technical support in terms of the manufacturing process know-how, but we're looking at many parties in Europe for product-wise collaboration," said general manager Rajendra H. Bhandari.

Bhandari estimates that the Arab market for pharmaceutical products is worth $10.6 billion annually with the Omani segment valued at $20 million and expansion in the Gulf market at 10 per cent per year. OPPC will be competing with another similar company, which is in the process of beginning its operations in Oman.

"OPPC's tentative production breakdown is: tablets - 800 million, capsules - 300 million, and ointment tubes and liquid bottles - 20 million each. The raw materials will be imported from approved sources in Europe, India, the US and China," said Bhandari, who himself worked for 12 years with Elder, where he joined after putting in a stint with Walter Bushnell in Mumbai. He expects calcium supplements and hormones to be among the fast-selling items.

Quality-control measures the company hopes to put in place will be in accordance with World Health Organisation guidelines. "We shall apply for WHO GMP approvals," said Bhandari, who added that the company would set up product development laboratories in the first phase.