Dhaka: Plot distribution of ‘API Industrial Park’ will be completed by October next for producing active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), said Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu on Sunday.

The factories that produce raw materials for medicines will be set up at the industrial park immediately after the distribution of plots, which will help minimise the import cost of the raw materials by 70 percent in the pharmaceutical sector, he said.  

The Industries Minister came up with the disclosure while talking to reporters after a meeting with leaders of Bangladesh Aushad Shilpa Samity at his secretariat office.  

Industries secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, chairman of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) MH Mohammad Iftekhar, secretary general of Bangladesh Aushad Shilpa Samity SM Safiuddin and senior officials of the ministry were present at the meeting.

During the meeting, they discussed the progress of API Industrial Park Project initiated in 2014 and decided to distribute 42 plots among pharmaceutical entrepreneurs in industry category.  

The proposed API Industrial Park Project will accommodate pharmaceutical industries in Munshiganj for producing active pharmaceutical ingredients. The park is also expected to create about 25,000 direct employments.

Amu said the pharmaceutical industry has already emerged as a potential sector in the country while Bangladeshi medicines are currently being exported to 133 more countries around the world.