By Ayesha Mudassar ISLAMABAD, Mar. 2 (INP-WealthPK): Abolition of duties on production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and giving the commerce ministry the responsibility of setting the toll manufacturing and tariff on the pharma industry instead of the Federal Board of Revenue will help the pharmaceutical sector further expand in Pakistan. The country currently has over 700 large volume pharmaceutical formulation units, including those operated by 22 multinational companies (MNCs). In 2020, the estimated value of the pharmaceutical sector of Pakistan was approximately $3.2 billion, which was almost double from $1.64 billion in 2011. Its total exports in 2020 stood at $235 million compared to $150 million in 2011. [caption id="attachment_64379" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Graph of total exports 2010-2020[/caption] Additionally, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has also offered incentives to attract Chinese drug manufacturers to set up their plants in Pakistan. “The pharmaceutical industry can help Pakistan achieve sustainable growth by increasing exports,” says Khalid Mansoor, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on CPEC Affairs, while speaking at a pharma export summit. Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry meets over 90% of the country's demand for finished dosage forms and approximately 4% of active ingredients. Currently, the pharma industry can manufacture a variety of traditional products ranging from pills to ointments, capsules, injections, syrups, soft gel capsules, etc. As per a report issued by IQVIA, an American global information and technology solution company, the domestic pharmaceutical companies of Pakistan have witnessed a cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of 13.1% in the last four years, exceeding the MNCs, which observed a CAGR of 9.34%. Rising faster than the MNCs, the quarterly revenue of the local pharmaceutical companies reached Rs320 billion till March 31, 2020, compared to Rs195.7 billion as of March 31, 2016. The pharma industry employs 150,000 individuals directly and 300,000 people indirectly. Pakistan Economic Survey 2019-20 reveals that the speed of contraction lessened in the pharmaceutical sector, as it recorded a decline of 5.38% from July to March in FY20 as compared to the 8.66% in the corresponding period the previous year. Furthermore, the highest sales of the pharmaceutical sector were observed in March 2020. The industry also attracted $1.3 million foreign direct investment in April 2020. The local pharmaceutical industry has also complied with a direction of the Pakistan Medical Commission to set up medical research departments in colleges, universities and hospitals with a view to involving the medical graduates and young doctors in the process of drug discovery, search and production. As a first step, the Karachi’s Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry has set up such a department with the help of Pharmevo Limited, a local pharmaceutical firm.