When Dr Mohammed Said
Tamer opened the first pharmacy in Saudi Arabia back in 1922, he probably didn’t imagine how lasting his footprint was to be. His sons, Farouk and Maamoun grew the company into a leading distributor of pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and consumer goods. Today, the Tamer Group is under third-generation management and has diversified even further, investing in healthcare projects and distribution joint ventures, etc.
Synonymous with health in KSA, the Tamer Group represents some of the largest, most prestigious international health, nutrition, wellness, confectionary, cosmetics and luxury goods brands – an endeavour that has been quite successful.
“Our achievements in the last two years have brought outstanding results” explains Ayman M Tamer, chairman and managing partner. “We have had double-digit growth and we have strengthened the business. We have consolidated with some of our key principals adding more businesses with mergers and acquisitions. Many of our partners today are leaders in their fields of categories.”
Tamer Group is affiliated with several multinational companies such as Novartis, Roche Diagnostics, Pfizer, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, P&G, Nestle and Cadbury.
Currently, the Saudi Arabian pharmaceutical market alone stands at about £2.22 billion and although there are over ten manufacturing plants – producing primarily generic drugs – Mr Tamer says the market has opportunity to grow and imports account for over 80 per cent of consumption.
Through its manufacturing arm, the Saudi Arabian Japanese Pharmaceutical Company (SAJA), the Tamer Group makes its contribution to innovative research products for the Saudi, the GCC and the MENA markets.
The group’s other business units are F M Tamer & Co, which imports, markets, promotes and distributes pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and consumer goods; Tamer Industries Co, the company that invests in industrial projects related to the healthcare and consumer goods sectors (and is also a majority shareholder in SAJA); and Tamer Investment Co, which invests in new enterprises in the healthcare, trading, finance and real estate sectors. Tamer Investment Co is also shareholder in Jeddah’s International Medical Center, Arabio (producer of vaccines and sera), Gulf General Insurance Co, United Gulf Healthcare (a chain of several dozen pharmacies) and Tamer Teleradiology.
This could be just the tip of the iceberg if experts are right about the Saudi healthcare sector growing three times more than the West, due to increased health awareness, overall healthcare expenditure and health insurance coverage, among other reasons. And to keep up, Mr Tamer says that new partnerships are more than welcome.
“We have an excellent community of very good professionals and we wish to cooperate with any local or international groups, even with our competitors, to improve the quality of life for patients in the Saudi Arabian community and its neighbours,” he comments. “We welcome any investment or partnerships with UK firms. It’s important, though, that British investors consider Saudi Arabia as a long-term strategic investment.” l
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