Pyongsu Joint Venture Company
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Pyongsu Joint Venture Company, Limited is a pharmaceutical company jointly founded in 2002 by the Pyongyang Pharmaceutical Company, the Ministry of Public Health's pharmaceutical factory with the longest experience in traditional and modern medicine in North Korea and Northern Development Consortium Pharmaceutical Ltd. (NDCP), Tortola, BVI, with Hong Kong headquartered Interpacific Holding (the Zuellig Group) as its main shareholder which is a market leader in pharmaceuticals distribution and contract manufacturing in Asia. NDCP holds the majority stake in PyongSu. The corporate headquarters of PyongSu are in the Songyo district in Pyongyang. PyongSu started trial production in 2004 and, as of 2005, engaged in manufacturing mainly painkillers and antibiotics. In February 2007 Hong Kong based Parazelsus Ltd., specialised in pharmaceuticals distribution, took over Interpacific's share at NDCP. Felix Abt, PyongSu's 3rd president succeeded in preventing the closure of the company by turning the heavily loss-making operation into a profit-making one. During his term PyongSu became the first North Korean pharmaceutical factory to reach GMP (a universally recognized quality standard in the pharmaceutical industry as defined by the WHO), repeatedly inspected and confirmed by the WHO. It also became the first ever North Korean company to participate in tender competitions and to win contracts against foreign competitors from China, India, Germany and elsewhere. With an increasing cash-flow generated by itself, the company has even become able to buy and profitably operate pharmacies and other sales outlets in the country.
Towards the end of 2008 managing director Felix Abt, 53, explained that the company now enjoys
1) a broad portfolio of products made by PyongSu including recently added anti-helmintic and anti-hypertensive drugs that meets the patients' needs well
2) a good reputation as a quality and service-minded company in the DPR of Korea that led to the recognition as the "model company" of the domestic pharmaceutical industry by authorities and customers
3) a competitiveness that helped and continues to help regularly win supply contracts against international competition, thanks to a well trained and dedicated Korean workforce.
4) a good market penetration thanks to the company’s wholesaling and distribution arm (that not only handles PyongSu’s own products but also a wide variety of complementary and alternative products at affordable prices imported directly from reliable GMP-manufacturers) as well as its own profitable retail outlets (pharmacies) in well-chosen locations
5) a strong double-digit growth rate as well as sustainability and profitability as a consequence of the afore-mentioned 4 points
Now that PyongSu has become one of the DPR Korea’s most successful joint venture companies ever, the board of directors appointed Remy Lardinois, 32, as the new Managing Director succeeding Felix Abt who was elected Vice Chairman of the board of directors as of March 1, 2009. Dr. Ju Zhong Ho continues to serve as the Chairman of the board and O Song Gun maintains his post as Deputy Managing Director.
