LAHORE:Caretaker Punjab Health Minister Prof Dr Javed Akram has directed the Bank of Punjab (BoP) to solve the problems of the pharmaceutical industry by opening the Letters of Credit of importers, whose LCs were being denied by the other banks.
The minister was speaking at the concluding ceremony of a two-day Pak Pharma and Healthcare Expo, held at the Lahore Expo Centre, here on Thursday.
Dr Akram said the hospitals had also been allowed to not wait for distributors or manufacturers and open the LCs themselves. “We are passing through difficult times, but the situation will improve soon,” he hoped.
Talking to the media after the visit, the caretaker minister said the pharmaceutical industry was also severely affected by the country’s economic crisis as materials and other equipment were not coming from abroad.
He said the Bank of Punjab had been instructed to deal with the issue, adding now the bank would open the LCs for anyone who was having a problem with any other bank.
Earlier, on arrival at the Expo Centre, the organiser of the exhibition and Prime Event Management Director Kamran Abbasi welcomed the caretaker minister.
The expo was organised by the Prime Event Management, in collaboration with the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA).
The caretaker minister visited different stalls and heard the problems of the exhibitors. He also participated in the conference and expressed his views.
More than 100 pharmaceutical companies including some foreign companies exhibited their products and technology at the show. During business-to-business (B2B) deals, many companies signed mutual contracts of huge value.