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Business Reporter
THE country is being forced to import pharmaceutical products which can be made locally after Datlabs closed one of its two factories in Bulawayo due to capital constraints, the chief executive, Todd Moyo, has said.
He said the pharmaceutical company was operating below capacity as it was facing challenges with its machinery and lack of capital.
Moyo said the company was operating at 40 percent down from 60 percent last year.
“We have been forced to reduce our operations capacity to 40 percent because most of our customers are not able to pay and we have limited ourselves to those who can pay,” he said during a tour of the company on Wednesday.
Moyo said the country was getting intravenous drips from far while machinery at its factory was lying idle because it needed refurbishment.
“We have the full capacity to supply the country with drips and all pharmaceutical products and we are willing to work with the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
“The country is importing drips from as far as Denmark while we have the water here and, as a company, we are capable of supplying the country but there is a need for investment for the factory to start working,” he said.
Moyo said the company needed capital investment of more than $5 million to start operating at full capacity.
“We need more than $5 million to buy some machinery and get the factory to operate at full capacity,” he said.
Moyo said importers were adversely affecting local producers because they brought in large quantities of their goods.
“These people do not give us money, they bring in a three-year supply of products which means that during those three years the local companies will not be manufacturing those products and this is killing our local factories,” he said.
Moyo bemoaned the influx of cheap imports and called on the government to create a level environment for all players.
“We need to have a level playing ground so that we do not end up being supermarkets for others,” said Moyo.
He applauded Zimbabweans for the support they have been giving them since the introduction of their new product Camphor Care.
“We thank the support that you have given us; the product has been doing well on the local market and regionally,” he said.
Moyo said the product was beginning to penetrate the regional markets.
“We are getting recognised in the region and our product is doing well, we recently received our first order from Kenya,” he said.
The Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Samuel Undenge, applauded Datlabs for coming up with their own locally manufactured Camphor product.
“The stance taken by Datlabs to manufacture their own product after losing the South African license to manufacture Ingram’s Camphor Cream, gives me hope that Zimbabwe will make it and you manufacturers will revive the industry in Bulawayo,” he said.
Dr Undenge encouraged local manufacturers to work hard and manufacture products that can compete on the international market.
Online Reporter