Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The exports of Pharmaceutical products from the country witnessed an increase of 24.92 percent during the seven months of ongoing financial year (2020-21) as compared to the exports of corresponding period of last year.
The country exported pharmaceutical worth US $161.443 million during July-January (2020-21) as against the export of US $129.242 million during July-January (2019-20), showing growth of 24.92 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
In terms of quantity, the exports of pharmaceutical products also increased by 26.73 percent by going up from 8,903 metric tons to 11,283 metric tons, according to the data.
Meanwhile, year- on- year basis the pharmaceutical goods export increased by 32.60 percent during the month of January 2021 as compared to the same month of last year.
The pharmaceutical exports in January 2021 were recorded at US $22.547 million against the export of $17.004 million in January 2020, the PBS data revealed.
However, month- on- month basis, the exports of pharmaceutical witnessed decrease of 9.25 percent in January 2021 when compared to $24.845 million in December 2020.
Later in 2020, government had decided to capitalize on the opportunity created due to Covid-19 pandemic and is aiming to increase pharma exports by $1 billion annually to $5bn in five years.
“Since the pandemic, we have started manufacturing and exporting Remdesivir injections. Moreover, demand for medicines and personal protective equipment has increased across the globe, and we are exporting these items,” Drug Reg¬ulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) CEO Dr Asim Rauf said while talking to media.
He said a plant of one of the pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and hoped that more companies will get the authority’s approval.
Dr Asim said that during the last one year, pharma exports of the country have increased from $200 million to $300m.
“The global community has started trusting Pakistan since the World Health Organisation has trained our Drug Inspectors and arranged training sessions for the industry.
