Aug 09, Colombo: At the CEO's Forum held on 4 August 2012 in Colombo, India's Minister of Commerce, Industry & Textiles Anand Sharma has said that a delegation of Pharma companies would be visiting Sri Lanka this month to discuss possibility of setting up a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub in the island.

An official of the Indian High Commission told a press conference that a pharma industry team from India is to visit Sri Lanka next week.

The delegation is scheduled to work out details of the proposed pharmaceutical manufacturing hub.

According to government information, in 2010, the estimated size of the local pharmaceutical market was 40 billion rupees but local contribution was only about 10 percent.

The government, which provides free healthcare for the people, is the largest consumer of drugs in Sri Lanka with a share of 5 billion rupees.

Sharma has said that an Indian textile delegation also will arrive in Sri Lanka next month to discuss setting up of a task force on textiles to help revive loss-making textile companies in Sri Lanka.