Himalaya to foray into Saudi Arabia, Jordan

Herbal major Himalaya Drug Company, which already has a wide presence in the Middle East, is all set to enter the Saudi market followed by Jordan and Lebanon later, a top official of the company said.

"Our entry into Saudi Arabia is scheduled for this month. We also plan to make a foray into the market in Jordan and Lebanon", Ravi Prasad, president and CEO told PTI.

"We are studying the viability of large-scale manufacturing in this part of the world", he said.  The company is poised for aggressive growth in the pharma market in the Middle East which is estimated at $ 3 billion, he said.

Himalaya is exporting over twenty formulations in the Middle East with Cystone (for kidney stones and urinary tract) being the flagship product.

"In fact, Cystone has become the market leader in its therapeutic segment in most of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Prasad said.

The trend for herbal products is "very positive" in the Middle East. The competition for Ayurvedic products is mainly from US and Europe, he said.

We are also in the Pakistan market where we are marketing select products from our pharmaceutical and personal care range", Prasad said, adding the company would like to extend its product offerings for this market and introduce the entire range.

Prasad said the company was also looking at Russia for launching its therapeutic, personal care and wellness products. "We are doing many clinical studies at several hospitals in Russia for our products like Cystone, Speman and Liv 52", he said.

Giving an overview of Himalaya's international presence, he said the larger markets for its (company's) products were the US, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE and Russia.

"We are growing fast across Middle East, Africa and West Europe. We intend to expand our presence across neighbouring SAARC countries and then move into markets of China and Japan", Prasad said.

"Positioning Himalaya as a company with a strong research legacy is the focus of our brand strategy", he said.

As far as distribution is concerned, the company prefers the route of setting up its own international hubs as it has done in Singapore, Middle East, Malaysia and USA. "This gives us a great degree of control over our brand positioning and communication in these markets", he said. Himalaya is present in over 60 countries.