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The government has failed to allot the required land to set up an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Park for manufacturing raw material of drugs in the past four years.
"We are frustrated as several meetings, attended by high-ups of ministry of health, ministry of industries and Board of Investment, took place during the last few months without any success," Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) president SM Shafiuzzaman told the FE Thursday.
He alleged that despite a directive from the Prime Minister's Office, the land for establishing API Park was yet to be finalised.
Bangladesh has to import 70 per cent of raw materials for manufacturing drugs while the rest 30 per cent is met from domestic sources.
Once the API park is established, dependence on import will end giving a boost to the Tk.30 billion Bangladesh's pharmaceutical industry.
"The government has already assigned Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) to allot us 200 acre of land for the API Park and no tangible progress has been made so far," the BAPI chief said.
He said in response to a long time BAPI demand, the government had offered only 40 acres of land in Adamjee one year back.
"We are optimistic that the government will be able to provide us adequate land for this purpose in the interest of the pharmaceutical sector," the BAPI chief maintained.
He said once the required land is allotted, the financing for establishing an API Park will not be a problem as the BAPI members are ready to contribute for the purpose, which will be a landmark event in the country's pharmaceutical sector.
The Bangladesh pharmaceutical industry could have done better in export market had it developed facilities for the production of basic raw materials, market operators felt.
The Bangladesh pharmaceutical industry now owns some 95 per cent of the domestic medicine market worth $ 503 million.
According to available statistics, there are 164 pharmaceutical companies in the country. Of them, about 25 companies are big and they produce high quality medicines.
Bangladesh earned $ 21.26 million in 2004-05 fiscal by exporting pharmaceutical products to some 60 countries showing a whopping 67.53 per cent rise over that of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
A total of 25 pharmaceutical companies are listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. Their total share capital is worth Tk 2.99 billion.
According to pharmaceutical sector experts, Bangladesh should take full advantage of the scopes created under the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs).
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