Ayesha Mudassar

Pakistan's pharmaceutical industry needs the government support in applying the latest technology and knowledge to expand its export base. Innovative technologies would give impetus to development of the pharmaceutical industry on a par with its foreign competitors, generating value-addition and employment and contributing to the country’s economic development, said Mr Waqas, owner of Islamabad-based Vision Pharmaceutical (PVT) Limited.

Talking to WealthPK, he said initiatives were needed to help promote the development of local active pharmaceutical products (API). “A strong API manufacturing base would ensure the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors’ self-sufficiency as well as price stability as reliance on imported APIs would decline gradually.” Mr. Waqas said only 12% of APIs were manufactured in Pakistan and the rest were imported from China and India. He said that the rupee-dollar disparity was increasing by the day, adversely affecting the cost of the local manufacturers.

However, he said that technology upgradation and a robust API base would enable local manufacturers to attain self-reliance in terms of import substitution as well as increase export base. Exports of pharmaceuticals goods witnessed a decrease of 0.49% during the previous fiscal year 2021-22 as compared to the fiscal year 2020-21.

Pakistan exported pharmaceutical products worth $268.942 million in 2021-22 compared to the export of $270.265 million in 2020-21, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data. In terms of quantity, the export of pharmaceutical goods, however, rose by 12.97% from 25,008 tonnes to 28,252 tonnes in the two comparable periods, the data revealed.

Meanwhile, year-on-year, pharmaceutical goods export decreased by 17.84% during June 2022 compared to the same month of last year. Month-on-month, exports of pharmaceutical goods increased by 24.85% in June 2022 compared to May 2022. The authorities need to create a favourable environment for expansion of the pharmaceutical sector to help it gain competitive advantage in the international market.

Independent News Pakistan-Wealthpk