Dr. Nadeem Jan, Federal Minister for National Health Services Regulations and Coordination said that the pharma industry is playing a crucial role in meeting the growing demand of medicine and promoting exports, therefore, the government is determined to address its key issues to further strengthen it and boost its exports. He said that the government is working to establish a pharma park with public private partnership and incentives would be offered to the pharma industry for local production of pharma raw material as well as local production of new molecules in the country. He said that he was already in contact with friendly nations for the transfer of technology to the pharmaceutical sector. He said this while addressing a delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) that called on him led by Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President ICCI.

Dr. Nadeem Jan said that the government plans to digitize the overall health system in the country to meet modern trends. He said that the purpose of technology transfer to the medical sector is to strengthen the country’s health infrastructure. He also informed the ICCI delegation about the forthcoming Global Health Security Summit in Pakistan. He assured that the issues highlighted by the ICCI delegation would be considered for redress.

Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry briefed the Federal Minister of National Health Services about the key issues of pharma industry. He said that the pharma industry imports almost 90 percent of raw material to manufacture medicines but due to fluctuation of currency, the import cost of raw material has increased manifold. He stressed that the government should encourage local production of active pharmaceutical ingredients to reduce production cost of medicines and compete more effectively in the international export market. He said that Pakistan’s pharma industry exports were just over US$ 700 million during the fiscal year 2022-23 and stressed for the collective efforts from the government, industry players and regulatory bodies to enhance pharma exports to over US$5 billion in the next few years.

Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI said that many local and international pharma companies are working in Pakistan and emphasized that the government, industry players and regulatory authorities should work together to position Pakistan as a leading player in the global pharmaceutical market.

Zafar Bakhtawari, former President ICCI and Secretary General UBG, Dr. Joharia Azhar, Faseeh ullah Khan and Zia Khalid Chaudhry were in the ICCI delegation.