The newly appointed Ambassador of France to Pakistan, H. E. Philippe Thiébaua visited the Karachi Head Office of Sanofi Pakistan, where he conferred the prestigious French National Award "Chevalier de I'Ordre national du Mérite" (Knight of the National Order of Merit) on Tariq Wajid, the General Manager and Managing Director of Sanofi Pakistan.
Wajid was appointed French Knight of the National Order of Merit (Chevalier de I'Ordre du Merite) by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy in May 2011. When bestowed upon foreign citizens, this distinction, created by General Charles de Gaulle, rewards their remarkable contribution to enhance relations between their country and France.
Following the ceremony, Wajid shared his sentiments on receiving this honour: "This award is bestowed upon me as the head of Sanofi operation in Pakistan but it is not an award for me alone; it is in recognition of the efforts of each second every member of Sanofi Pakistan, without whose contributions there would have been no success story. This is a huge honour for all of us and we can take great pride that our collective efforts have been acknowledged at the highest level," said Wajid while talking to the media.
The French Ambassador, accompanied by the French Consul General, H. E. Christian Ramage, also took a tour of the Sanofi state-of-the-art liquid manufacturing facility which was completed in 2010 at an investment of almost euro five million (Rs 600 million). It has a designed annual capacity of almost 70 million packs and is designed for the manufacture and development of oral liquids (suspension, syrup, emulsion, linctus, ointments & creams).
As the Ambassador is new to Pakistan, he was briefed about the local pharmaceutical industry and the scope of Sanofi Pakistan's operations. He was impressed by the sophisticated facilities and appreciated the efforts of the local management in bringing quality healthcare to the people of Pakistan.
Sanofi, a global and diversified healthcare leader, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions focused on patients' needs. Sanofi has core strengths in the field of healthcare with seven growth platforms: diabetes solutions, human vaccines, innovative drugs, rare diseases, consumer healthcare, emerging markets and animal health. Sanofi is listed in Paris and in New York.-PR