Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the authorities concerned to take all necessary measures to exploit the full potential of exports diversification in the salt and pharmaceutical sectors.
He gave this while chairing a meeting of the National Export Development Board in Islamabad on Friday morning.
The meeting was attended by Finance Minister, Shaukat Fayyaz Tareen, Industries & Production Minister, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Advisor on Commerce & Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, SAPM on Health, Dr. Faisal Sultan, SAPM on Political Communication, Dr. Shabaz Gill, CEO Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistani (DRAP), Asim Rauf, representatives of Pharmaceutical and Salt sectors and senior officers concerned.
The Prime Minister was briefed on the potential of diversification of exports, especially in the salt and pharmaceutical sectors.
The Prime Minister was briefed that Pakistan is lucky to be blessed with all types of salt available in the world. These include rock salt, sea salt, and lake salt.
With a reserve size of 6.2 billion tons, Khewra Salt Mine is the second largest salt range in the world. Pakistan has also sea salt reserves along a 1050 km long coastline.
Almost 60 percent of the total 350 million tons of global salt consumption is made by the chemical industry.
Pakistan’s current annual salt production is 4 million tons, whereas just 3 lac tons are being exported each year.
Hub Salt and the Governments of Balochistan have initiated a new Solar Salt Project to tap Pakistan’s huge potential in salt export. This new Solar Salt Project will be the world’s largest salt works facility and will boost the salt exports by $400 million in 2023, and will continue to grow by $200 million per annum in subsequent years.
Moreover, it was told that currently, Pakistan’s pharmaceutical exports are worth $275 million with a growth potential of $74.3 billion. This growth potential can be materialized by investing in the machinery and equipment, streamlining the registration process for Pakistani medicines, entering into Joint Ventures with reputed Multinational Companies (MNCs), and appointing sales and marketing teams in international markets for brand building.
The Prime Minister reiterated that the government is focused on creating a business friendly environment in the country for further strengthening the economy and increasing employment opportunities.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the business community should adopt modern technologies to achieve maximum value addition.
