Partners with 6th World Ayurveda Congress for the third time, sees 55 overseas delegates from 20 countries
Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) recently organised a technical seminar and international business meet during 6th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC). Pharmexcil, with the active support of Ministry of Commerce, Govt of India, organised the seminar and meet at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
The technical seminar created awareness for manufacturers and exporters of herbal and AYUSH products on the certifications issued by various organisations which are mandatory/useful for exporting traditional/herbal health products.
Sudhanshu Pandey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt of India, was the chief guest for the technical seminar. Eminent speakers from Star -K Kosher, Halal India, USP India, ECOCERT, and NSF International delivered presentations during the seminar. Officials from Department of AYUSH, Bala Prasad, Joint Secretary and Dr Geetha Krishnan graced the event as guests of honour. Industry leaders from the AYUSH sector actively participated in the seminar.
The international buyer seller meet saw 55 overseas delegates from 20 countries representing the traditional medicine industry (including herbals, AYUSH, dietary supplements, and nutraceuticals) and Food and Drug officials (FDA). It also saw participation from 150 Indian delegates. The participating countries were Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Canada, Egypt, Ghana, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Ukraine, the US, and Uzbekistan.
Ayurvedic and herbal products and powders, extracts, ayurvedic formulations and herbal formulations, dietary supplements, neutraceuticals and functional foods were displayed. Overseas delegates expressed their satisfaction at being provided a unique platform to meet a good number of Indian manufacturers and exporters supplying a wide variety of herbal extracts and Ayurvedic formulations.
Drug regulatory officials from Egypt, Iraq and Nepal were also present at the business meet. The event provided an opportunity for Indian companies, especially small and medium companies, to have face-to-face interactions/ network and understand the regulatory practices in these countries.
The Council also participated in Arogya Expo and organised a ‘Exporters Pavilion’. Thvaledictory session organised by the Department of AYUSH was graced by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India; then Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan; Nilanjan Sanyal, Secretary, Department of AYUSH, Government of India and Dr Jaya Kumar of World Ayurveda Foundation.
Modi said that the biggest challenge to Ayurveda comes from people who have dedicated their life to it. They too do not trust it fully, he said. Seeking to dispel the notion of Ayurveda and allopathy being competing streams of medical science, the PM described Ayurveda as a way of life. He said that a disease can be cured by allopathy; and if a person adopts Ayurveda, he can ensure that he remains healthy and free of disease.
The PM also said that it is essential for Ayurveda to reach people in a simple, effective way. For this, the modes of treatment should be better packaged. He added that space has to be created in international medical and science publications for articles on Ayurveda but the effort for this has to come from the practitioners and researchers of Ayurveda.
EP News Bureau – Mumbai