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The Pharmaceutical Industry in Pakistan commenced its business operations a few yearsafter the country came into existence. With the passage of time most of the multinationalcompanies began manufacturing activities to cope with the requirement of quality drugsand medicines for the rapidly increasing population in both wings of the country.

Presently the number of registered or licensed manufacturers in the country is close to300 units out of which are 32 majority control multinationals and there are many jointventures with foreign collaboration. According to the IMS (International Market Survey)the total pharmaceutical market in Pakistan in 1996 was valued at US$900 million whichgrew at the rate of 20 per cent in 1996. The total world market for pharmaceuticals isestimated to be about US$248 billion in 1994 out of which North America had a share of33.5 per cent followed by Europe at 27 per cent and Japan 21.5 per cent. Pakistan's sharewas about 0.3 per cent. The per capita consumption of pharmaceuticals is about US$4 inPakistan whereas the average worldwide annual

Pharmaceutical Industry has emerged initially as a processing and conversion industry. It

is engaged mainly in converting raw materials into different dosage forms and packagingof the finished products. The domestic pharmaceutical industry prepares drops, tablets,capsules, injections, powder and ointments etc. from imported items.

There are at present 230 licensed manufacturing pharmaceutical companies operating inthe country. Of these 32 are multinationals. Census of Manufacturing Industries 1987-88(latest available) listed 129 companies manufacturing drugs and pharmaceutical products.The value of production of these companies stood at Rs. 7.532 billion in 1987-88. Valueadded amounted to Rs. 2.802 billion while contribution to GDP stood at Rs. 1.727 billion.The industry employed about 14,232 workers.

At present there are 17 Pharmaceutical companies on the list of Karachi Stock Exchangeand they command more than 70 per cent of total pharmaceutical sales in the country.Total equity of these companies stood at Rs. 29.40 million. Total sales of thesecompanies in 1993 stood at Rs. 11.704 billion as compared to Rs. 10.600 billion in thepreceding year, showing a rise of 10.41 per

These are the excerpts from welcome address by Mr. Nisar A. Memon, President,Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry presented at a meeting with themembers of French Economic Delegation on the occasion of their visit to OICCI&I onNovember 29.

International industrial participation in Pakistan predates the country's inception. ICIestablished a soda ash works in 1942, and the business has since diversified intoPolyester Fibres, Paints, Agro and General Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals. Othermultinational as Unilver, Shell, British American Tobacco, Burmah Oil, Siemens andPhilips also saw early opportunities and benefited. We have six French Companiesoperating in Pakistan as our Members and they are in the industries of communication,pharmaceutical, chemical, environmental health and banking.

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industrialization exists to allow rapid development in new areas of activity, serving bothhome and export markets. The traditional industries of Pakistan are themselves capable ofenhancement through vertical integration and value adding. Textiles, the largest and mostmature industrial sector, still concentrates on basic production, leaving the field wideopen for investment in higher value added projects. This includes export products such as

a higher count blended yarns, woven cloth and the whole range of finishing process andmade-ups.

As a result of wide-ranging economic reforms, several opportunities in various sectorsnow clearly exist. Active involvements by foreign companies is already evident in manyinfrastructural projects, oil and gas field development, power generation andtelecommunications. This involvement is manifest by both financial commitment, in theform of equity and debt financing, and by technical assistance.

There are, however, an even greater number of unexploited area. These includeopportunities in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors, for example, in Basic

Medicines, Pesticides, Synthetics, Polymers, Plastic, Dyes and Pigments, Fertilizers andinorganic Chemicals. Other infrastructural projects with potential are toll on roads andbridges, container and storage terminals, water management systems andcommunications.