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MD/CEO's Speech at the Commissioning of the National Pharmaceutical Distribution Centre, Apapa- Lagos
December 22, 2005

The Registrar of Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN)
Representatives National Association of Industrial Pharmacists (NAIP)
Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN)
Our esteemed Clients
Other distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to welcome you this morning to the formal commissioning of the latest addition to our pharmaceutical distribution facilities.

Permit me to welcome in particular distinguished representatives of various Regulatory Agencies and our clients for sparing the time to attend this event even during this yuletide season.

The journey to today's event started about five years ago, when in conjunction with one of our key clients- GSK Pharmaceuticals, National Distribution Centre was established at this location. Since then, the demand for specialized distribution services for pharmaceutical products has been on a steady increase. To date, we have entered into agreements with such reputable companies and institutions such as Pfizer-Global Pharmaceuticals, Cipla-Evans, Nigerian German Chemcals Plc, Society for Family Health, Jagal Pharma, Emzor Pharmaceuticals, TETA Pharmaceuticals Ltd, e.t.c. for the provision distribution services in various parts of the country.

To support our distribution model, it has become imperative for us to expand the capacity of our national distribution hub, hence the design and construction of the facility that we are here to commission this morning. Permit me to stress that the facility is designed and built to world class standards (The Divisional managing Director would simplify on this in due course).

At this juncture, I wish to recall that during our recent rights issue, we promised to invest part of the proceeds in capacity expansion and infrastructural provision for MDS, amongst others. Today's event is in partial fulfillment of that promise. Over, the next few months, we would be commissioning five other regional pharmaceutical hubs to compliment our existing depot network. In addition, early in 2006, we would be formally launching the online distribution framework of MDS.

As I have repeatedly said to our esteemed clients, our goal is to transform MDS to a world class supply chain management organization providing total outbound logistics solutions to you. I wish to assure you that in line with our mission and core values, we will continue to seek deeper understanding of your requirements and in spite of the challenges of our environment, deploy the necessary infrastructure and solutions to consistently deliver superior value to your business and customers.

In conclusion, I wish to thank the Regulatory agencies here present and our clients who have always supported our various initiatives. In particular I must express our deep appreciation to Pfizer-Global Pharmaceuticals the primary user of this facility. May I also thank the UACN family for coming to support one of our own-MDS.

I wish all of us a very merry Christmas and a better and prosperous 2006.

Thank you and GOD bless.

Ayo Ajayi
22/12/2005