Mega Tanzania, celebrated opening of their new office in Dar-e-Salam in presence of Mr. Dilley Phillip, Director-East Africa. The opening ceremony on March 15 th, 2015, was attended by all the esteemed customers and stake holders of Mega Tanzania including Key Opinion Leaders & Pharmacists, HODs of well-known Hospitals in Dar-e-Salam, Our distribution partners Mr. Kiran Pattni of J. D. Pharmacy & Mr. Venumadhav of Planet Pharmacy, and high performing team of East African market with their near and dear ones.

The ceremony was made special and memorable by all the guests who shared the memories of their proud association with Mega and its growth. “ Opening of Mega’s office in Dar-e-Salam is a major milestone in its growth and expansion and really is a ‘Dream come True’ for me ”, said Mr. Shahid Reza, Country Head, Mega Tanzania.

Anyone who has ever exchanged business cards with Vivek Dhawan will be puzzled by one of the positions he holds at Mega LifeSciences Plc. Beside the word CEO is the title of “Chief Coach”. The latter is equally important to the people who work with Mr Dhawan at the company he has led since 1986.

“Where does the word coach come from? Football?” I ask him. “No,” he answers, though he is a big fan. It is team sport in general that inspires him. “I watch football. I love to watch Arsenal. I love to watch Barcelona. I love to see the way they play. From the movement of the ball, you can say everybody is involved in the game. There’s no one hero.”

Making sure everyone is involved is the way Mr Dhawan runs the business of Mega LifeSciences, the company that has transformed itself from a contract manufacturer of medicine capsules. Over the past three decades it has evolved into a major producer and exporter of branded pharmaceuticals and health-supplement products, with 6,600 employees and a presence in 33 countries.

Listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand since November 2013, Mega last year earned 1.14 billion baht in net profit, down 5% from the year before, on revenue of 11.13 billion, a gain of 9.3% from 2018.

“I’m not a hero in this company,” Mr Dhawan tells Asia Focus. “In a team, everybody is good. A good company can only succeed when we have people who are better than me. … You need good people around who can actually pass the ball to somebody else, not you. If you do that then you are selfish. You can’t win.

“Creating a good team is what I’m thinking about; that’s where the word coach came from. You found that at Barcelona when Pep (Guardiola) was there. You found that at Arsenal with what (former manager) Arsène Wenger used to do,” he says.

“But there are different models. I’m not saying the other model is wrong but our model is that as a team, we win together. Everybody is important, the goalkeeper or the front guys, not that there is one hero.”

At Mega, which includes the fast-growing Maxcare logistics business serving Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, Mr Dhawan’s goal if for everybody to enjoy coming to work.

“Work should not be painful,” he says. “The first thing I would say is that if I can enjoy it, everybody should enjoy work. They are smiling. If they are having fun then they give their best. Actually they are owners (of the company) so we make them feel they are the real owners, make them really feel good and they respond with honesty. (When we fight), we fight for the right reason. We don’t fight for politics.”

The company has four levels of staff — coaches, partners, associates and colleagues. This corporate culture, he says, was established 25 years ago.

“Most of these people have worked with me for a long time and they know what we have been through,” he explains. “We have decided that as a company, rather than having a director or vice-president, now we have coaches, partners, associates and colleagues. People can change from colleagues to associates, to partners and then they grow up to become coaches.

“What is my biggest job? It’s like playing (football). If we look at Arsenal, Manchester United or Barcelona, the coach is doing what? They let people play. Pep could not play for (Lionel) Messi. … Messi is one great player but you still need other players. He can’t play alone.

“I’m a coach. What does the coach do? They help people play as teams. Twenty-five years ago, I said we should have a model that says your job is to help other people to succeed, not me. If they succeed, I will succeed anyway, right?”

He offers an example of how the team should work. “I have a person who is very good in Thailand, I have a person who is good in manufacturing, regulatory affairs, people who are good in digital, and some who are very good in finance. All of them are good but they have to work together; then you can create a magical outcome.

“My job is to make sure that all of them work and play together for one reason because they love Mega. … That’s why I think my job is more like a coach, less like a CEO,” he says.

“I cannot tell them … do it now, shut up. That model doesn’t work anymore. That’s why I thought the coaching model is a better way. If they believe in the culture, then they will do the right thing. So creating that belief system is very important.”

The corporate culture was clearly illustrated when the Covid-19 pandemic started to seriously affect businesses all over the world including Mega. “When Covid happened, our factories were working every day. Our team in Thailand, with 2,000 people, had to come to work. They go to pharmacies, to hospitals, to deliver products. They do this all the time.”

“Even with Covid, nobody says, ‘I’m going home’. It’s people’s passion. They love what they’re doing. They do wonderful things. We’re not in a hurry to create sales, we are first creating belief. If there is belief, they will love what they do.”

STRATEGIC SHIFT

Born in India, Mr Dhawan earned his MBA in the United States and joined Medicap, a producer of soft pharmaceutical capsules in Thailand, in 1986. The company, with a plant in Bang Pu, Samut Prakan, later became Mega LifeSciences after it began to branch out into own-brand products in the mid-1990s.

In 1992, Medicap became the only Thai company with approval from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration, the country’s food and drug regulator. Since then Mr Dhawan has built a large, publicly listed company that is the number one supplement maker in both Thailand and Myanmar.

“This business was started in 1984-85 by two partners — a Thai group and an Indian partner who had technology. It was called Medicap. I came in 1986 after finishing my MBA. My father is an engineer who was based in Thailand. We joined them with some ownership and to manage the business,” he recalls.

“At that time, it was 10 people and maybe US$100,000 (2-3 million baht) in turnover, two machines, losing money. That’s where my journey started, as an engineer. My life began there from slowly, little by little growing and building it. We learned and we grew.”

From 1992-94, the company had to decide whether to continue being a contract manufacturer or pursue building its own brand. It chose the latter path.

“In the following 5-10 years, we did less and less OEM (original equipment manufacturing) and more and more of our own brands. We expanded to more and more markets,” says Mr Dhawan. “Then we started distribution. We went to Vietnam in 1993, then we opened Cambodia.”

Australia was the first foreign country where Mega set up manufacturing, on a site about 80 kilometres outside of Melbourne. With an investment of around 450-500 million baht, the company has also invested in a new plant in Bang Pu.

In February this year, Mega acquired a plant in Indonesia, outside Jakarta, as its third manufacturing facility. In Myanmar, it has a joint venture with an Indian partner to make new drugs. The project, however, is under review as Myanmar passed a new patent law last year.

“That plant is designed to produce new molecules. There have been some changes with medicine patents. And because of Covid, we cannot have meetings so we cannot get together with the team and can’t go to Myanmar but the land is there,” says Mr Dhawan.

Mega’s Maxcare division, however, has a major presence in Myanmar with warehouses covering 50,000 square metres in Yangon. Serving both pharmaceutical and fast-moving consumer goods, Maxcare represents companies including L’Oréal and Osotspa, as well as other food and cosmetics makers with coverage of 35,000 sales outlets in the country. “In total, we are in six cities and cover 60% of the country directly,” he says.

Beyond Asia, Mega has developed a presence with its own brand in sub-Saharan Africa with offices in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia. Its other markets include Ukraine and Uzbekistan, and some parts of Latin America such as Peru and Colombia.

“We’ve invested in the countries where we are because we want to make our brand strong,” he says. “Wherever we are, we have a reasonably good presence. We have good brands. If you go to that market, you’ll find Mega WeCare in most of the markets.

“If you are in Myanmar, you will see Mega brands everywhere, so we are building long-term brands in the country. Brands that are part of your life, brands that consumers actually love.”

Nowadays, 95% of Mega’s manufacturing is for its own brands, thanks to the strategic shift it began pursuing more than 25 years ago. “It was our strategic shift. We shifted our business model to marketing our own brands.”

And while Covid has hit every business badly, Mr Dhawan says Mega has been quite resilient in the face of the ongoing crisis given its low debts, diversified markets and credible products. “Mega went through a lot of these difficult times [in 1997-98] when we borrowed some money in dollars and it became 56 baht to the dollar, but this is a part of life, right?

“We lived through it and we learned. It taught us. Every time you have something, you get to learn and you get better. But by building a resilient company, when you do the right thing in the same business again and again, you have a good chance of doing better. We get better by the day.”

But the more challenging task is to create something that can live and grow beyond his era. “I have written down my company philosophy, which is to build a thinking organisation that we can change before being forced to change,” he explains.

The key is to create a learning culture so that people in the company want to seek more knowledge. “We must start to question, to ask why. And when we ask why, we can make the right changes. Change before you are forced to, not when you have problems,” he points out. “Today everybody can change but can we do it before it’s too late?”

For example, Mega has been moving into digital marketing, and had already built a digital ecosystem before the pandemic happened. “How can you create something that is going to live on even when you are not here? It’s an ecosystem where good people will come and new things will happen and carry on even after I’m gone. That’s the biggest challenge for me these days.”

LEISURE TIME

When he has free time, Mr Dhawan reads avidly. “There is a lot to read and I read everything. I read philosophy, for example, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. We say that people prepare in this life to leave but they never prepare to die. Imagine today is your last day in this world, what will you do? You will do things differently. You will do good everyday,” he says.

“I also read a lot of philosophy, from Buddhism to Hinduism, and history.”

To keep in touch with what is happening in the business world and gain new insights, he also reads the Harvard Business Review and magazines.

“At the moment I’m fascinated by behavioural science. I read a book called Nudge by Richard Thaler (and Cass Sunstein), about rationality in behaviour. We think people’s behaviours are rational but in fact they’re not. I’m reading a lot of studies by behavioural scientists now to get into human behaviours.

“Now that Covid has shaken the world, the way people behave in a time of pandemic and what kinds of responses they have in their behaviours, are interesting. For example, how do you spend your money during such a time?”

Another area he is attracted to is creativity. “I just heard about another interesting book called Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelley. It’s about how everybody has a chance to be creative. How can we help people to bring that out in them?”

Wellness is another interest, and a book entitled Undo It (by Dean Ornish and Anne Ornish) struck a chord. It proposes that you can “undo” your diseases if you make changes in your daily life.

As Mega’s business is well diversified, Mr Dhawan has a lot of chances to travel, and that is another thing he is passionate about. “Every country is so beautiful. When I went to Vietnam 25 years ago, in Hanoi, there was a small shop and they make only one dish called cha ca. (noodles with fish) and it’s 100 years old,” he recalls.

In Bhutan, he remembers walking for five days on a winter trek from Thimphu to Paro. “Every day, I walked 10 kilometres and slept in a tent, freezing. But Bhutan is so beautiful.”

He finds Italy lovely, particularly the countryside. In India, he rode the Maharajah Express for six days to see many cities. Business has also taken him to African nations such as Tanzania and Ethiopia. “In Ethiopia you eat corn on the street — they roast it for you over charcoal. I think every country got some magic in it.

“Beauty is everywhere. Stop measuring it. If you compare — this is better or I love this more than something else — that’s a challenge. Beauty is what you enjoy when you are there. Wherever you are, that is beautiful.”

His next trip is to Latin America, which offers a lot of ground to cover. “Everything in Latin America needs time. I want to travel around, have more time to do that. Today with work, I don’t go (on holiday) for a month. I go for two weeks. I do two two-week holidays a year at least.

“I love history. I love walking around. I want to see and feel the cultures of other countries,” he says with a smile. “I would love to go to all the old places where you can still feel the local energy, smell the food, enjoy the people walking around, the warmth of it. This is kind of thing I enjoy for my holidays.”

Bangkok Post : https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1958127/team-player

Mr. Vivek Dhawan, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Coach of Mega Lifesciences Public Company Limited (MEGA), a global Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FCMG) provider, announced the company’s business strategies in all areas to support healthy living for people worldwide. MEGA is reviewing potential acquisitions to further strengthen its regional presence. The company is also focusing on developing countries in Southeast Asia, Central and Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and CIS countries that offer strong growth potential to double its business by 2025. MEGA’s annual revenue increased by 12.1% from 2010 to 2018, while the company’s normalized net profit increased 19.4% in the first quarter of 2019.

Yangon, Myanmar, 9 June 2018 – Maxxcare Ltd, the distribution arm of Mega Lifesciences Group, has inaugurated a 120,000 square-foot distribution center in Yangon that will raise the bar for pharmaceutical distributors in Myanmar.

H.E U Phyo Min Thein, Chief Minister of Yangon Region, H.E Khun Pakainay Lengee, Minister Counsellor (Commercial) of Royal Thai Embassy, Dr. Khin Zaw, Director General of Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Sports along with Mr Vivek Dhawan, CEO & Chief Coach of Mega Lifesciences Group, and Mr Girish Wadhwa, President and Head Coach of Mega Lifesciences, cut the ribbon to inaugurate the facility.

Maxxcare’s Yangon Distribution Center is one of the largest facilities of its kind in Myanmar, stretching over 11 acres of land in northern Yangon. It currently has 120,000 square feet of warehouse capacity and another 38,000 square feet for utilities, modern office space and a canteen. It is expected to be fully operational by July 9, 2018.

Mr. Vivek Dhawan said: “Our commitment to providing the best in class distribution services for pharmaceutical and consumer goods to the people of Myanmar is affirmed by this new Distribution Center. Ensuring quality medicines and consumer goods are delivered to every corner of the country.” He added: “We remain focused on bringing new, innovative and quality medicines and products to everyone in the country.”

The Yangon Distribution Center can store about 700,000 shipping cartons in its modern, six-level, nine-meter-high racking system. Pharmaceutical products will be stored in air-conditioned warehousing space, while the center also includes a cold

chain storage facility for products such as vaccines, insulin and other drugs that require a stable temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius.

Safety has been a primary consideration in the design of the Yangon Distribution Center, which features a fire safety system with a sprinkler system and 80,000 gallons tank.

The next initiative for the facility is to install a 400-kilowatt rooftop solar plant which is capable of generating about 600,000 kilowatt hours per year, thus preventing an estimated 11,340 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Mr Girish Wadhwa said: “Our investment in the new Yangon Distribution Center reflects our deep commitment to the country and our vision of a strong future for our operations in Myanmar. We have designed and built this facility with a clear objective to ensure highest quality of services and to secure capacity for future growth.”

This 18.8-billion-kyat investment into the Distribution Center also includes the implementation of the solar project as well as adding another 80,000 square feet of storage capacity at the center over the next five years, an expansion that would almost double its initial capacity.

Mega Lifesciences has been supporting deserving students in Universities of Medicine and Pharmacy through the Ministry of Sports and Health since 2006. Mr Vivek Dhawan received an appreciation certificate from Daw Tin Tin Lay, Director General, Department of Human Resources, Ministry of Health and Sports for the 10.8 million kyat donated by Mega towards the scholarship for the academic year 2018-19.

Aconotin 10mg and Aconotin 20 mg (‘Aconotin’) currently sold by Mega Lifesciences Public Company Limited (‘Company’) through its 100% subsidiary Mega Lifesciences PTY Limited are controlled drugs under the regulations announced by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Thailand. These products can be procured by patients only under prescription by a qualified dermatologist in a hospital or clinic. These products are not over The Counter (OTC) products and may involve health hazards if consumed without prescription. Company sells Acnotin strictly according to the FDA regulations.

Company bears no responsibility For Acnotin that may be sold at any pharmacies or by any one on the internet or advertised for any properties of this product. The company has no method to dertermine that the product is genuine and the quality of such Products can not be guaranteed and the company will not take responsibility for any consequences of using the Product.

Any person who, directly or indirectly, sells of solicits to sell Acnotin without permission from the company is violation of the regulations of FDA and also the intellectual property of the Company. The Company reserves the right to take legal action against the violator(s).

MEGA LIFESCIENCES, a Thai pharmaceutical firm, celebrated 20 years of operations and US$100 million (Bt3.5 billion) of business the company and its partners have secured since its inception in Myanmar.

“From starting on a very small scale in 1995, to now having 1,400 staff, eight offices and presence in 50 towns and cities in Myanmar, we are grateful to celebrate two decades here,” Vivek Dhawan, CEO and chief coach, said yesterday.

Mega derived 32.3 per cent of its sales from Myanmar last year.

The pharma has become a successful case study for international corporations doing business in that country.

“This growing market represents our top country by revenue of all the 31 countries where Mega Lifesciences is found.

“We are proud to be able to help local people with their health and wellness and we thank Myanmar for its support,” he said.

The large pharma distributes pharmaceuticals, vitamins and consumer products in the neighbouring country.

Now with more than 70 commercialised products, Mega leads the iron, calcium, vitamin E and liver supplement markets.

It is also the leading pharmaceutical and fast-moving-consumer-goods distribution company, representing more than 30 principals such as Kimberly-Clark, Pfizer, MSD, GSK Consumer Health and Sandoz under its Maxxcare arm.

Mega was the first international company to set up distribution operations in Myanmar and now represents roughly 15 per cent of the nation’s total pharmaceutical market.

To commemorate the occasion, a gala took place at the Myanmar Convention Centre in Yangon with more than 1,000 employees, partners and guests attending.

Mega forecasts continued double-digit growth over the five years until 2020 and hopes to expand its distribution network in Myanmar in line with growth estimates for the country.

Vitamins and supplements are the largest therapeutic category in this country of 53 million, accounting for about a quarter of the market.

“When we started in Myanmar, we wanted to make a difference in developing markets where there was a need to create access to world-class healthcare products,” Dhawan said.

“We were steadfast in our business-expansion decision to be one of the first into developing nations and grow as they expand.

“Thanks to this, Mega has experienced 10-to-15-per-cent growth annually in Myanmar.”

SET- listed Mega Lifesciences Plc, the pharmaceutical and herbal medicine manufacturer, will allocate 820 million baht to expand its business in Thailand and Myanmar this year in search of long-term sustainable…

Of the total, 120 million baht will be invested in a new wellness centre in Muak Lek district of Saraburi and 160 million will be used to buy 17.2 rai next to its factory at Bangpoo Industrial Estate in…

The land will be used to increase manufacturing and storage capacity in the near future.

The remaining 540 million baht will be spent on building a distribution centre in Yangon, Myanmar, in the next two years. The 25-rai facility will have 12,000 to 15,000 square metres of space

“The additional investment in Myanmar will be made because almost one-third of our revenue comes from the neighbouring country,” Mr Dhawan said.

Mega’s wellness centre in Muak Lek is due to open in the fourth quarter of this year. The clinic will have a concept of preventing and reversing disease naturally.

“This is an exciting development and a new incubator business for us,” Mr Dhawan said, adding that this is the first clinic in Thailand to use nutrition as a primary medicine.

“We eat food every day, so why shouldn’t we use it to heal our illnesses also? The clinic will focus on non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes,” he said.

The world is changing and becoming more interested in natural health and Thailand is the perfect location for such a unique concept, he said

“Thailand has wonderful fresh food, a strong history of using traditional herbs and plentiful natural resources. We can see Thailand as a worldwide hub of this kind of approach to preventing and reversing…

Mega chose to start with this business approach because there is growing demand for natural cures for illness around the world as people look for alternative treatments.

It will change its marketing mix to increase knowledge for consumers so that they know how to use supplements in the right way. The company will focus on herbal and natural medicines and launch new products…

Mega aims to grow its revenue this year by 5-10% from 7.94 billion baht last year, of which 3.2 billion baht came from overseas.

It aims to double its size by 2020 by growing its business, launching new products and expanding to new countries.

Mega now does business in 31 countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Southeast Asia and Africa provide 93% of foreign revenue.

MEGA shares closed on Tuesday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 17.20 baht, up 20 satang, in trade worth 7.8 million baht.

Mega announces that revenues and profits will grow 10% this year as the Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese markets are growing strongly. They are running their production facilities at full capacity as well as releasing 69 new products. Q1/2015 results are reportedly strong and 10 million dollars will be invested in building a new warehouse for distribution in Myanmar.

Mr. Vivek Dhawan, CEO of Mega Lifesciences or MEGA revealed that the company had set targets for revenues and profits at not less than 10% growth. Last year revenues were 7,765.91 million baht and profits were 547.88 million baht. As the market looks more positive this year, the factory can proceed with production at full capacity, and the company has plans to release 69 new products this year. Last year, given the state of the Thai market which is the company’s chief market, sales suffered by about 35%, as a result of the political situation.

Q1 2015 is slated to be better for the company than the same period last year as its key markets including Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam together which comprise 70-80 percent of total sales all have positive tendencies in growth, Thailand and Myanmar especially. Vietnam is also seeing a return to positive growth after several products were cut from the market following recent problems. The Africa and Ukraine markets are also seeing positive growth compared to the same period last year.

Mr. Vivek observed that, “The company set a target of 10% growth in revenue and profits; already in Q1/2015 it looks like we’re going to be doing considerably better than the same period last year as our key markets namely Thailand and Myanmar are doing particularly well.”

The company is also in the midst of doing feasibility studies concerning constructing warehouses and distribution centers as for the last 20 years the company has been investing in distribution in Myanmar, and it currently appears that the Myanmar government will change regulations in order to facilitate foreign investment. If such changes in regulation come to pass the company stands ready to make a 10 million USD investment.

As for funding sources most of the budget will come from the funds left over from the IPO which amounts to more than 920 million baht of the initial 2,225 million baht capitalization. Much has already been invested as there was much need for investment over the last year. Beyond investing in Myanmar the company has announced where else it will invest as these decisions require careful research.

Beyond this, the company plans that over the next 5 years revenues will stand at 15,000 million baht, which if the company grows at the rate of 10-20% percent per year should see it meet its targets. In 2014 revenues stood at 7,765 million baht. If the company this year meets or exceeds its target, its five year goal should be possible even considering its core current markets alone because these are high-potential markets.

Than Hoon – Mega switches to high gear, setting targets for increasing revenue and profits. CEO Mr. Vivek Dhawan hints at attacking foreign markets full force, particularly markets in Africa which are seeing a high number of orders, supporting the target of 15,000 million before 2019 which he says should not be difficult. At the same time numerous new products have been released and investments of 1-2 million USD have been made in order to boost the quality of products in order to grow profits.

Mr. Vivek Dhawan, CEO of Mega Lifesciences revealed that the compay intends to double revenues and profits in comparison with last year as well as having revenues increase to 15,000 million within 2019 which will depend on expansion to foreign markets both in ASEAN and in Africa, with the estimation that revenues from Africa will be 20% of total revenues by 2019 as compared to 10% now. As for 2015 targets have been set at 10% growth from last year in which revenues stood at 7700 million and profits at 547 million, with the pharmaceutical market seeing a tendency towards continuous growth since the end of last year while the company is set to release 20 new products with a budget of 1-2 million USD per year for R&D into new products and improving existing products in order to achieve larger profits. ”, As such results from Q1/2015 have been on the rising trend when compared to the same period last year, as well as a tendency in foreign markets towards continued growth following periods of unrest in Ukraine and Austria.

At the moment the company draws 75-80% of revenues from foreign markets,

whereas the rest comes domestically from the Mega We Care brand.

Currently the company is producing at 50-60% capacity of a full capacity

of 3400 million capsules per year.All

in all Mega sees the domestic market returning to a state in which

pharmaceutical products are once more in demand, at the same time as

seeing neighboring markets expand and thus it is a good time for Mega to

press forward in these markets.

Vivek Dhawan, CEO of Mega Lifesciences opens a warehouse to international standards in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It will be used to store both Mega branded products and other brands under the MaxxCare distribution company under the Mega network. The facility is intended to serve the needs of a new generation of consumers in Cambodia.

Mega Lifesciences has strengthened its Asean presence a state-of-the-art warehouse at its compound in Phonm Penh. The new facility is timed at capturing this increasingly health-conscious market on the eve of regional integration. The temperature-controlled warehouse of more than 2,300 square meters incorporate cold storage facilities and is served by a fleet of temperature controlled delivery vehicles. Mega’s team of more than 200 people handles more than 600 stock keeping units equipped with specialized software for accounting, reporting and information sharing.

Pim Thai, published an article as well.