The increase in production was due to sowing more productive varieties of coca, agricultural technical assistance, and replanting crops, UNODC representative Pierre Lapaque said during a presentation of yearly monitoring statistics. Drug trafficking has long fueled Colombia's internal armed conflict, which has left more than , dead and millions displaced, according to the government.
Colombian security forces destroyed , hectares , acres of coca crops in and confiscated metric tons of cocaine. This year the country hopes to destroy the same number of hectares of coca crops.
Rather than relying on one or two blockbusters, the goal is to have many medium-sized products in different areas. Now we are looking for local growth opportunities from in-licensing products from European or Asian companies that do not exist here in Colombia; local growth opportunities from vaccines; and opportunities from alliances with companies from China and India.
This is a new strategy for us. Colombia emerged as one of three sovereign countries following the collapse of Gran Colombia in , along with Ecuador and Venezuela.
This is indeed the case for a multitude of local pharmaceutical companies competing domestically, but sharing equally great ambitions to bring a new Gran Colombia of pharmaceutical prowess to the neighboring markets of Central America and the Caribbean.
We can become very strong in Central America because they are markets of small countries that are not necessarily interesting for big multinationals. Our idea is to buy strong companies in each country and become a dominant player in the whole area.
Future similar acquisitions are in store for to bolster their regional presence. Buy, conquer, and directly represent always remains an option for companies flush with cash. The more typical practice, however, has been penetration through a reliable chain of alliances and regional distributors. It is not necessarily Farma de Colombia being present in these markets; rather, it is the distributing companies themselves. Jorge E. Purchase by purchase, Chalver expanded to its present-day structure of export and warehousing operations in 15 countries with over commercial partners.
After company soul-searching, Farma de Colombia emerged less reliant on licensing and determined to strengthen its own brand lines as it has done with Calcibon, the Colombian market leading calcium prescription, and Akatinol, a market share leader in Latin America for Alzheimer treatment. The private sector is a good arena to build the brands that we value.
Colombia represents only. There is a huge demand for rare disease treatment in the US, Mexico, and Brazil that Vesalius seeks to supply through strategic alliances. We believe that Colombian market is a highly competitive and saturated one. CROs offer pharmaceutical companies the chance to roll-over fixed research costs into lower variable costs and boost productivity by focusing on competitive advantages.
Situated in the tropics, Colombia is an advantageous market for clinical trials because of its population size, diversity, and proximity to the US. LatAm Clinical Trials capitalizes on these dynamics. As a niche CRO specialized in vaccine testing and infectious disease treatment, LatAm provides a one-stop shop for pharmaceutical companies looking for a regional contact. Colombia, epidemiologically, behaves very similar to developed countries.
We can also offer treatment and services in infectious diseases that are typically found in developing countries but are now emerging in the developed world.
More than suppliers of drugs and medicines, Colombian pharmaceutical companies embrace their role as socially responsible agents of change.
President Uribe, speaking at the inaugural ceremony, praised Novartis for its environmental stewardship and recognized the important contributions its work has on instilling investor confidence in Colombia. In industry and social responsibility, leadership and trendsetting is second nature for Novartis. Furthermore, they were the first pharmaceutical company in Colombia to sign the United Nations Global Compact on socially responsible business practices.
The same applies to their inroads in social responsibility with Roche working side-by-side with patient associations to increase informed access to medicines. As can be the case with institutions, doctors have very little time to explain detailed information to them. Our outreach is all about ensuring access to proper information about healthcare. Visitors to Colombia today will find a safer atmosphere whose risk profile favors the country as a preferred investment destination.
Argentina is an attractive market but relative macroeconomic instability can worry investors. And one that stands out is narco-submarines, or semi-subs actually. But when you speak to the navy or police off the record, when you grab a beer with them, they say that if proper submarines aren't out there yet, they'll be there shortly.
You can go to this naval base on Malaga Bay and see some captured semi-subs. At the high end, I've seen these things built 50 or 60 feet long. And they can carry eight or nine tons of cocaine. They bring components from the legal economy to these jungle factories where they are produced and then sent into the Pacific. The crew might be four people. I interviewed a man who described the journey as nightmarish.
A constant roar of the engines. Friedersdorf: You spent time aboard a U. Coast Guard ship that patrols the Pacific in hopes of intercepting smugglers using boats as well as these semi-subs. What are those missions like? It's so vast that it's almost like four or five police cars patrolling the continental United States.
They're making these busts of three, four, six tons of cocaine, more than any other U. One guy related a story to me on the ship. He has a buddy back home on a police force, and they get excited when they seize one kilo of cocaine. We were laughing because there were three tons of seized cocaine behind us.
They really feel they're performing their part. Friedersdorf: Is that true, or do the cartels just send more? Muse: No one really has trouble getting cocaine in Europe or the United States. And all of these countries are announcing record seizures.
Last year in America, on one boat just off Philadelphia, there were 20 tons of cocaine. The U. Costa Rica. These are three-month missions that they're out there on. But I do think that it is incumbent on the U. Doing the same thing and expecting different results. And thousands of lives have been lost. This business runs on demand, and until the U. Read: The key thing missing from Narcos. Friedersdorf: Is legalizing drugs the answer?
He said the world needed to rethink the drug, and suggested he would be open to discussing legalization. I don't know if that's the solution, because people are worried about the availability of these drugs that are very harmful. Proponents of legalization have to reckon with the fact that they are not winning the argument. But Prohibition made him a hugely wealthy man. Those are the qualities you need to thrive in the underworld.
But I don't look back at Prohibition and say the villain of that era was the working man or working woman illegally getting a drink at the end of the week. I look back and say it was a series of policies that were implemented that created that chaos. Muse: It is hard to find people in Colombia who truly believe that cocaine can be eradicated. But this is an amazing country. The warmest people on the planet, views that will take your breath away.
You can go to the deepest rain forest, hang out with the indigenous [people] there, learn from them, see crystal-clear seas and beautiful beaches in the Caribbean, and everything in between.
That is far from the truth. A tiny minority of the country is involved in cocaine. And many Colombians feel as if they are trapped due to policies from their own government and foreign governments. No one suffers from the drug war more than Colombia. In Colombia it is real.
0コメント