In its continued efforts to regulate the pharmaceutical sector, the Ministry of Health has proposed to limit investments exclusively between Kuwaiti citizens, in place of the current regulation which allows partnerships between Kuwaiti pharmacists and non-Kuwaiti investors.
Sources confirmed with an Arab daily that there is a consensus on the need to amend the law on pharmaceutical practice, and since the adoption of its executive regulations this consensus has been in existence for at least 25 years. The Committee for “Studying the Practice of the Profession and Regulating the Work of Private Pharmacies”, which consists of a Ministry of Health representative, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Pharmaceutical Importers and the Kuwait Pharmacy Association, is keen on creating opportunities for investments in the private pharmacy sector, provided that the partnership is limited to Kuwaitis, be they pharmacists or investors.
According to the source, one of the advantages in limiting the partnership between Kuwaiti pharmacists and investors is to provide opportunities for locals to establish a joint pharmacy, and the opportunity to partner with a Kuwaiti investor, in a bid to create better jobs and investment opportunities between Kuwaiti colleagues.