Pharma Development have begun to put plans in place to establish a US$15 million pharmaceutical manufacturing plant and will start distributing products while setting up the plant in the country.

President of the French pharmaceutical giant, Mario Giron said his company was working at the possibility of entering the African market by setting up a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Zambia.

The pharmaceutical products called 'wellbeing line' the company manufactures are composed of many specialties of drugs, food supplements, dietary products and cosmetics.

The products will also range from antiretrovirus, anti-malaria and syrups to cosmetics, among other pharmaceutical products.

He said this during a media briefing held at Hotel Intercontinental in Lusaka yesterday.

Dr Giron described Zambia as a key and strategic market which he believed could service all of Southern and Eastern African regions.

"We are working to strengthen our international presence and we are actively prospecting new markets and Zambia is on our top priority list," Dr Giron said.

"We are in talks with the relevant authorities and potential partners in Zambia and so far everything is looking very promising and we are willing to bring this investment into Zambia to serve this region."

As an entry strategy, Dr Giron said the firm would soon start with distribution of a range of products while working on setting up a plant in the country.

At the moment the company is observing all legal requirements for the investment to take effect while engaging key decision makers to see how best Pharma's presence in the country can be facilitated.

Dr Giron said that his company was ready to partner with the Zambian Government to contribute to the improvement of health service delivery by providing access to quality and affordable drugs