Liptis Nutrition of Switzerland Based at Freezone Targets Major Market Share in ME Region

Dubai Airport Freezone based Liptis Nutrition of Switzerland and New York fired its first salvo in a bid to capture a major share of the Gulf and Middle East market with the launch recently of innovative nutrition products in the United Arab Emirates.

Launched recently in UAE are Liptomama and Liptomil Plus 1, 2, 3 and LF. Liptomama is a supplement for use by pregnant women to provide complete nutrition during pregnancy and for use by nursing mothers to make their milk more nutritious and encourage production of breast milk. Liptomil Plus is an infant formula for mothers that are not able to breast feed.

Also launched recently and now available in pharmacies in the UAE and other Gulf and Middle East markets is Gentaplex. "The products have received regulatory approval from the Ministry of Health in the UAE and in other Gulf countries," said Sharif Omar, Vice President of Liptis. "As part of our expansion plans, we would be launching a number of nutrition and pharmaceutical products in the near future."

Liptis Nutrition FZCO started operations at the Dubai Airport Freezone in April, 2004 with an initial investment of over US$1 million. "The decision to open at the Freezone was due to transparent regulations and an attractive business environment at the Freezone combined with the fact that Dubai is a hub in the region. Added attraction of the Dubai Airport Freezone is its open and clear business practice," said Mr. Omar.

Mr. Omar said the Nutrition production facilities of Liptis are based in Hochdorf, Switzerland while its pharmaceutical factories are located in the United States. The company has over 5,000 workers around the world and in the Gulf and Middle East alone there are over 340 employees.

In 2008, the turnover of Liptis, a privately held company, was AED 3.65 billion (US$1 billion). The Dubai Airport Freezone office is the headquarters of Liptis in the GCC market.

In 2004, he said the company launched Dorofen, an osteoarthritis drug in the market. The Middle East region of Liptis operates in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, Algeria, Sudan and Turkey. In the CIS it has offices in the Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Thailand and Indonesia in Southeast Asia. It also has offices in the US, Brazil and Mexico.

Mr. Nasser Al Madani, Assistant Director General of the Dubai Airport Freezone, said "It is an honor for the Freezone to host a major nutrition and pharmaceutical company such as Liptis Nutrition. Here at the Freezone, we spare no effort to make sure all the requirements of our 1450 companies are met. We also create in the Freezone a healthy working environment that is safe and complies with all the international environmental standards."