The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has suggested the Sindh government to initiate programme of basic manufacturing of chemicals and drugs.
In a communication, the KCCI noted that Sindh was endowed with abundant natural resources in the form of medical plants and minerals along with a few basic chemicals/by-products available from the existing chemical industry.
The chamber further said that Sindh had sufficient natural resources and adequate technical capabilities, which could be used in the basic manufacturing of drug and chemicals.
It further suggested that network of small and medium capacity multi-purpose plants be established in the province as this strategy had been proved quite successful in Korea, China and India.
The pharmaceutical industry in the country, the KCCI said, had now reached a phase, which signified a level of operation that could be treated at par with the pharmaceutical units in the developed countries in terms of technology, scale, production and quality of products.
The prospects for further development of export market in the pharmaceutical sector appeared quite bright, it pointed out. At present, Pakistan is exporting finished medicines to a number of countries, including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Turkmenistan. More export markets in other countries could be explored if good quality products were offered at competitive prices, said the KCCI.