Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer, and BinSina Pharmacy, UAE’s oldest pharmacy chain, have teamed up to launch in-store pharmacies in Carrefour outlets.

The first in-store BinSina Pharmacy was opened recently at Carrefour's hypermarket in Mall of the Emirates, offering a comprehensive pharmacy service to the estimated 17,000 Carrefour customers each day.

This is the first pharmacy outlet to be incorporated in the global Carrefour chain in the Middle East.

"The pharmacy-in-Hypermarket concept is a truly unique idea that provides customers with comfort and convenience. We have chosen BinSina Pharmacy because of its strong track record in the UAE and its credibility. We study the extension of this concept to other stores, said," Henri Changeux, country head of Carrefour.

"This addition creates an important element of retail service in one of the largest retail brands in the world."

"With the convenience of a pharmacy within the hypermarket, customers have the ease and convenience of utilising pharmacy services, including the professional health advice, vitamins and specialised skin care products, in the course of their shopping."

"Being the region's premier pharmacy chain, we felt it was imperative to widen our footprint and expand our customer base in the UAE. BinSina Pharmacy has embarked on the next stage of its evolution with this new concept which incorporates a full-fledged pharmacy within a Carrefour hypermarket," said Ahmad Khayyat, managing director, BinSina Pharmacy.

"The opening of BinSina Pharmacy at Carrefour will provide additional value to customers and visitors. We are delighted that Carrefour has chosen us for this pilot project."

"We are proud to build this association with Carrefour and the UAE-based Majid Al Futtaim Group and we are confident that jointly we can provide an unparalleled offering to Carrefour customers," he added.

Pharmacies in the UAE are governed by stringent rules and regulations from the Ministry of Health.

However, the Ministry is progressive and dynamic when it comes to introducing new concepts, to enable service providers to take quality healthcare to the people through more innovative waysm, he noted.-TradeArabia News Service