Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has called on the pharmaceutical industry to build on the existing export-growth momentum and work with the government to make Pakistan a competitive, innovation-driven and export-oriented pharmaceutical hub.

His remarks came in the backdrop of surging pharmaceutical exports that reached a 20-year high of $457 million in FY2025, registering a 34% growth. Iqbal chaired a roundtable conference with the pharmaceutical industry experts and stakeholders. Adviser to the Prime Minister for Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan and Federal Minister for Health Mustafa Kamal were also present.

The planning minister said the roundtable was convened to move beyond conventional consultation and bring the government, industry, academia and research institutions together to develop practical solutions for taking Pakistan's pharmaceutical industry to the next level.

He emphasised that Pakistan must move beyond incremental export growth and called for achieving the national ambition of $100 billion-plus exports by 2035. He asked the pharmaceutical industry to define how much it could contribute to this national export target, identify its growth potential and point out the regulatory, administrative, financing, production and market-access barriers that were preventing it from reaching global markets.

The minister said the challenge was no longer simply to generate another $10 billion or $20 billion in pharmaceutical exports. "The question is whether, in the next 10 years, we can make Pakistan a pharmaceutical hub of the world."

He underlined the need for building the missing links in the domestic and international value chains and developing the sector to a level where "Made in Pakistan" could become a mark of quality and trust in global pharmaceutical markets. As a concrete next step, Iqbal proposed that the pharmaceutical industry organise a one-month internal consultation and workshop involving all relevant stakeholders.

The exercise should identify the industry's priorities, challenges and future growth potential and produce a clear medium- and long-term roadmap extending to 2030 and beyond. The roadmap is to be developed in consultation with the Ministry of Planning and should set out the policies, reforms and government support required for sustainable growth of the pharmaceutical industry.

The minister said the government's role was to facilitate the private sector, create a conducive business environment and ensure continuity of policies that could enable industries to grow, innovate and compete globally. "We will extend our full support to the pharmaceutical industry and work with you to identify what policy and institutional support is required from the government," he said.

The roadmap presented at the roundtable envisages progress from $457 million in FY25 exports to the $2 billion industry target, followed by $3 billion through PharmEx within three years and $10 billion in eight years. Iqbal said the current export performance should be used as a launchpad for much greater export ambitions.