Gholamreza Akhavan Farid, stated that 97% of Iranian medicines are produced domestically. He explained: “Esfahan province is ranked second in production of medicines and pharmaceutical products and 70% of Iranian herbal medicines are produced in Esfahan Province.”
Gholamreza Akhavan Farid, Director of Raha Pharmaceutical Company and Representative Member of Esfahan Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA) at a joint meeting between pharmacists of Iran and Russia, which was held by the efforts of International Relations and Marketing Department of ECCIMA, said: “There are 6 big pharmaceutical companies and 2 herbal medicine manufacturers in Esfahan producing 800 different types of medicine.”
He expressed that this meeting is held with the aim of improving export infrastructures via joint research and production with the cooperation of big companies from both countries and added: “if Russian companies are interested in exporting to Iran, they should first register their products through the importing companies at the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MOH) and obtain the necessary permits.”
Furthermore, Ilya Bakulin, the Board Member and Director of International Affairs at B.Pharma Company, introduced their company as a distributor of pharmaceutical products, and declared: "We have set up a pharmaceutical manufacturing company since 2016 and we currently have 10 branches in Russia and  branch registration in six other countries, including Vietnam, Paraguay, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is under process.”
"Our products are exported to more than 20 African and Asian countries and we import raw materials from other countries", he said.
The Russian representative at this meeting expressed the interest of Russian pharmaceutical companies for partnering with Iranian companies and noted that the Russian pharmaceutical industry is a new industry and there are many opportunities for cooperation in the fields of transfer of technology and knowhow, and trading between Russian and Iranian companies.”
He continued: "Russian companies are interested in a joint venturing with Iranian pharmaceutical companies and this investment will certainly benefit both sides." At the end of the meeting, Ilya Bakulin extended his invitation to the Esfahan Chamber of Commerce to visit the Russian pharmaceutical companies as the initiative of future cooperation.