President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum & All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Chairman National Business Group Pakistan, Chairman FPCCI Policy Advisory Board and Former Provincial Minister Mian Zahid Hussain has welcomed the major pharmaceutical and healthcare agreements signed between Pakistani and Chinese companies, describing them as an important opportunity to reduce import dependence, strengthen health security and develop a new export-oriented industry. He said the Pakistan-China Pharmaceutical and Healthcare B2B Conference produced 22 commercial agreements worth $629.5 million and 84 memoranda of understanding with an estimated value of around $800 million. The event brought together 240 Chinese delegates representing 140 companies and 430 Pakistani delegates from 210 companies, while 340 bilateral business meetings were also conducted.
Mian Zahid Hussain said the agreements cover strategically important areas, including eight projects for local vaccine production, eight for medical-device manufacturing, two for active pharmaceutical ingredients, two for clinical trials and two for generic formulations and injectable medicines. These commitments should be converted into operational plants through clearly defined investment schedules, local employment targets and mandatory technology-transfer arrangements. He said Pakistan manufactures nearly 85 percent of its finished pharmaceutical products domestically, but imports approximately 95 percent of the raw materials used to produce medicines. This dependence exposes medicine prices and supplies to exchange-rate depreciation, international freight costs and global supply disruptions. Local production of active pharmaceutical ingredients can save foreign exchange, improve supply-chain security and reduce pressure on patients.
The veteran business leader noted that Pakistan currently imports 13 vaccines administered under the national immunisation programme, while the cost of imported vaccines has been projected to reach $1.2 billion by 2030. The newly approved National Local Vaccine Production Policy, combined with Chinese investment and biotechnology expertise, can help Pakistan build domestic capacity in vaccines, biological products and cold-chain technologies. He said Pakistan’s pharmaceutical exports reached a record $457 million in FY2024-25, increasing by 34 percent and reaching more than 80 international markets. However, this performance remains far below the country’s potential, particularly given its large domestic manufacturing base, skilled workforce and access to markets in Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Mian Zahid Hussain observed that pharmaceutical production contracted by 5.1 percent during July–March FY2026, compared with growth of 2.3 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year. The new investments should reverse the slowdown through modern machinery, research and development, international certifications and export-focused production. He appreciated the efforts of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Ministry of National Health Services, DRAP, TDAP, the Board of Investment and Pakistan’s embassy in China for facilitating the agreements. He also welcomed the digitisation of approximately 85 percent of DRAP’s regulatory processes and the reduction of medical-device approval time to around 20 days.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that signing trade agreements is only the first step. A joint implementation cell should be established to public quarterly progress report on investment received, factories established, jobs created, import substitution achieved and exports generated. Success should be measured by production, technology transfer and foreign-exchange earnings rather than the number of MoUs signed.
