Pharmaceutical industrial park to be set up soon

The government is going to set up a specialised industrial park at Gazaria in Munshiganj district for the country’s burgeoning pharmaceutical sector, industries minister Dilip Barua said.
Ground breaking for the proposed Tk 233 crore project would be held in mid-June, the minister told New Age on Thursday.
Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation, under the industries ministry, is implementing the so-called Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Industrial Park project.
The park would house different factories to produce basic raw materials for pharmaceutical industry.
The park is also designed to attract local and foreign investments and boost foreign currency earnings through export of pharmaceutical products, officials said.
A total of 42 plots with Central Effluent Treatment Plant would be accommodated in the park that would have incinerators for solid and liquid waste management.
Currently, the local pharmaceutical market is worth around Tk 7,000 crore. Around 80 percent of total raw materials for the industry is imported mainly from China, said industry insiders.
Among the Least Developing Countries, Bangladesh has the strongest base for manufacturing pharmaceutical products though the country has to import basic ingredients from countries like India, China, Italy and Germany.
Industry insiders hope that over 25,000 skilled workers would be employed if the project is implemented and nearly one lakh people will be benefited indirectly.
Sources said there are some 200 pharmaceutical companies in the country. Bangladesh exports pharmaceutical products to some 73 countries in the world.
The API project which will be implemented on nearly 200 acres of land is expected to be completed by December next year, sources in industries ministry said.