Private sector local production of contraceptives : current options for AID

is seeking alternatives to donating contraceptives to developing country family planning programs. This document examines the potential for assisting private sector production of contraceptives in developing nations. The study focuses on experience with private sector production in Bangladesh, Egypt, India, and Mexico. Projects are already underway in the first three countries to develop local condom production, while Mexico has begun private sector electronic condom screening and packaging. A major finding is that the estimated investments required for local production are modest, relative to estimated A.I.D. procurement costs during the period 1985-1991. For example, in Bangladesh, A.I.D. will have spent more than $51 million on 1.2 billion condoms during this period, whereas the total foreign exchange investment for establishing a condom manufacturing facility is significantly less, around $5-$8 million. Further, in all four countries a significant portion of capital investment and annual operating costs for local production can be paid in local currency. However, except in Bangladesh and Egypt, opportunities to assist in establishing entirely new full-scale production ventures are limited. There is much wider scope for A.I.D. to provide assistance for intermediate production or to upgrade and expand existing facilities of private sector and, in selected cases, parastatal producers of contraceptives.