Impact On Singapore Small

Ulf Karlburg said,: Its a natural consequence of the ongoing consolidation of the pharmaceutical industry. Karlburg said Astra was not too concerned about the merger. We have the world's leading product ... which is years ahead of any of these two companies products. Therefore we are not concerned, he said. Astras ulcer drug Losec is the worlds best-selling drug, chalking up sales of US$3.68 billion in 1996. Karlburg said Astra was strengthening its position in Asia despite the region's economic crisis and planned to invest US$100 million over the next three years to expand manufacturing output, espcially in China. We put plants where the biggest markets are. The China market, we believe, will be the biggest in the world around 2010, 2015. Its a long-term strategic development, he said. Karlburg said Astra expected to lift its sales in Asia significantly in 1998 to US$300 million from over US$230 million in 1997. We are confident and expect sales of up to US$300 million, or approximately five percent of our group turnover, to come from Asia in 1998, he said.