Belén Garijo, President and CEO of Merck Serono, pointed out that they have a clear localization development strategy, when she gave an exclusive interview to People's Daily Online during the 2014 APEC summit.

"Asia-Pacific is a fast growing economy, and is actually making a singnificant contribution to our growth as a company," said Garijo. "We are very pleased to be interacting with the Asia-Pacific region and its countries, and in China in particular, we have a clear strategy of localization. We have recently announced that there will be a factory involving an investment 80 million euros. This factory will be in the city of Nantong, and this will be our second biggest factory worldwide, serving the needs of Chinese patients and citizens. "

It is believed that this factory will produce medicines that are on the essential drug list.

"We have a long history in the Asia-Pacific. This is one of our fastest growing regions," said Garijo.

Merck Serono is further exploring partnership opportunities that go beyond is current activities in R&D, and is also looking to engage in Asia Pacific issues. For example, the company has proposed the "Healthy Women, Healthy Economies" initiative which will allow it to contribute to developments in the Asia Pacific, and particularly in China.

Every year, almost 90 billion US dollars is lost in the Asia-Pacific region due to ineffective use of the female workforce in its economies. The "Healthy Woman, Healthy Economies" initiative aims to bring woman to the heart of growth and economic development, and further integrate women into the labor force.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to contribute to developing a population, and helping woman to achieve a successful career and live a better life," said Garijo. "Women play a big role in caring for the family; we believe we can also have a very positive impact on other demographics like their children and parents."