Filipino-led team in Dubai develops hand sanitizer

A team led by mostly Filipino experts in Dubai has formulated a hand sanitizer that is now marketed to the public.

Prime Group of Companies recently launched the hand sanitizer brand Hagienex, according to chief executive officer Dr. Mary Jane Alvero-Al Mahdi.

“The efficacy of this sanitizer is 99.99% and we have a lab report to support that claim,” Al Mahdi told GMA News Online in an interview.

The Filipino-born CEO said the sanitizer also passed the strict regulations of the government of the United Arab Emirates.

According to Al Mahdi, the team that produced the hand sanitizer was made up of 90% Filipinos.

“We have our own research, studies and development laboratory. In this laboratory we have a team of experts: chemists, biochemists, microbiologists and chemical engineers,” she said.

“It is headed by a team of Filipino experts, experts in the formulation and branding of the product, quality, regulation, and compliances.”

She said “the representation of our product is proudly made in UAE but also proudly produced by Filipino scientists and experts.”

Apart from helping consumers stay protected and healthy, the hand sanitizer product was created to keep jobs amid the pandemic, said Al Mahdi.

“My aim was to save my people,” she said. “The economy has gone down, companies are cutting their salaries, costs, [enforcing leaves]. That I did not want to happen to my people.”

Al Mahdi, who was named one of the Smart Enterprise Global Filipino Executive of the Year Circle of Excellence awardees at the recent Asia CEO Awards, also wished to change the perception that overseas Filipino workers did only “low-level types of jobs.”

“Most of the Filipinos here have manifested an extraordinary achievement in different fields. We have a lot of professors here, doctors,” she said.

“They are directors of schools, deans, engineers in [directorial and] managerial posts, chief financial officers, vice presidents of local banks,” the CEO added. – GMA News