German headquartered company Bayer is a global enterprise in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials and known by many for pharmaceutical products such as Aspirin.

In 2009, Bayer opened a branch in Cambodia, focusing especially on products from the field of womens’s health.

According to Maline Srun, branch manager at Bayer Cambodia, the company deals with a different market in every new country a branch is opened.

“Different country, different situation, different market,” she says.

Even in the neighbouring countries Thailand and Vietnam, Bayer looks at a different market than Cambodia.

According to Srun, Bayer has a presence in many other Southeast Asian countries as well and is currently focusing on entering the markets in Myanmar and Laos as the last two countries.

The medicine they sell in Cambodia is not produced locally, Srun says.

“It depends on the product. But most of the products here are from Germany,” she says.

Bayer does not produce but just distributes and sells in Cambodia. She says generally there is hardly any local production for medicines or pharmaceutical products here.

Major health issues in Cambodia include malaria, dengue fever, tuberculosis, HIV and a lack of clean drinking water, according to Srun. She says especially in the provinces there is a lack of public awareness, people do not always have access to health care, and medication is limited.

According to Srun, Bayer Cambodia is involved in corporate social responsibility activities in the country.

“This is what I am proud of because I am Cambodian,” she says.

Bayer Cambodia provided financial and medical support to Cambodian’s for recent flood disasters and supported the Cambodian Red Cross, she says.

This year the company is working with the Ministry of Environment and Education to produce an environment book for schoolchildren. Srun says it is important to provide environmental knowledge to children when they are still young.

In their recent program of sustainable, hygienic, and resource efficient solar dryers for Cambodians, Bayer is looking at one of Cambodia’s oldest techniques for processing dried agricultural and seafood products – open sun drying.

According to Bayer, this is considered the least efficient in terms of processing time and weight loss of the product and the least safe as the products are exposed to various contaminants.

With the distributions of solar dryers, the company aims at improving the traditional technique of drying agricultural products.