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Clear vision
Ian Hickling (left), president of the manufacturing division of Lenstec Barbados Inc., showing Minister of Economic Affairs and Empowerment, Innovation, Trade, Industry and Commerce Dr David Estwick a batch of lenses just off the lathe machine.
by STACEY RUSSELL
LENSTEC BARBADOS INC. makes artificial lenses, but recent approval to sell one of its products in the United States market will bring real foreign exchange into Barbados and help increase the rate of employment.
President of the international business company’s manufacturing division, Ian Hickling, yesterday announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved its Softec HD intra ocular lenses (artificial lenses used in cataract surgeries), one of the range of 30 which it manufactures at its 30 000-square foot plant at Newton Industrial Estate, Christ Church.
After guiding Minister of Economic Affairs and Empowerment, Innovation, Trade, Industry and Commerce Dr David Estwick, representatives from Invest Barbados, Barbados Manufacturers’ Association, Barbados International Business Association and the media on a tour of its new $11 million purpose-built building, Hickling said Lenstec was now the only non-United States company, among four United States firms, authorised to sell these lenses in the United States.
He said: “The primary reason that we moved into this building [in 2008] was because we were expecting FDA approval. When the FDA came here in December [2009], they could not believe their eyes; that a place like Barbados would have a facility as good and clean as this. You are only as good as your people as well, so the procedures we have in place here are as good as any company anywhere in the world.”
Estwick said: “Lenstec has contributed significantly to the economy of Barbados from its inception in April 1996. Since that time, the company has shown impressive growth from a staff of four persons to 140 . . . . Sales have grown every year, and reached over US$10 million in 2009.
“This afternoon it is my distinct honour and pleasure to congratulate Mr Ian Hickling, as well as the senior management and staff of Lenstec Barbados Inc. on achieving FDA approval.
“This breakthrough will translate into greater foreign exchange earnings for Barbados, particularly from the US market and increased employment in this time of unprecedented economic contraction.”
In fact, Hinckling said the company had already estimated US$9 million a year from the sale of these particular lenses in the United States alone, which would be tallied with existing export sales markets in more than 50 countries, including Japan, Europe, Canada and Australia. And he told the DAILY NATION that Lenstec expected to have another two of its lenses approved by the FDA by yearend.
Estwick noted that Lenstec, which has its headquarters in Florida in the United States, had “placed significant emphasis on the technical and professional training of staff, and it pleases me to note that only two [members] of the total staff [are] non-Barbadian”. (Nation News)