Compugates, Mara plan 3,000 bumi-owned

An article from the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society’s website (http://www.mps.org.my/ )

KUALA LUMPUR: Compugates Holdings Bhd plans to tie up with Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) to develop a chain of 3,000 bumiputera-owned pharmacies following its appointment as the sole distributor for Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Amavita Apotheke Central for the Asean region.

In a statement today, Compugates said the chain of pharmacies would be supplied with Amavita’s products under the Compugates Amavita Apotheke brand name.

It said its subsidiary Compugates Development and Mining Sdn Bhd would work with the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development to develop the bumiputera-owned franchise under a proposed entrepreneurial scheme.

Compugates said the scheme would involve the recruitment of Mara pharmacy graduates as entrepreneurs to own and operate the pharmacies.

It said Mara would provide each qualified bumiputera a loan of RM300,000, of which RM100,000 will be for setting up a pharmacy. The remaining RM200,000 will be for procuring pharmaceutical supplies through Compugates.

“There are relatively few bumiputra pharmacists in Malaysia. We feel our collaboration with Mara may just be the boost that they need to start up and make an impact,” said Compugates Development chief executive officer Datuk Ibrahim Abdul Ghaffar.

Amavita is the largest pharmacy network in Switzerland owned by Galenica Group. Compugates said the rights to distribute Amavita products was a diversification from its core business of distributing and trading consumer electronic products.