KARACHI: The federal government has announced to upgrade Central Drugs Laboratory of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) with a total outlay of Rs 145 million. The project will help the local pharmaceutical sector in view of the prospects of exports of the country, said State Minister for National Health Service, Regulation and Coordination Saria Afzal Tarar while addressing the pharmaceutical industry leaders and executives gathered at 2nd Pakistan Pharma Summit, on Tuesday. She said the government was committed to adopting a different mechanism to deal with pharmaceutical industry, which had been planning to invest to improve infrastructure. The event was organised by Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA). “Our government is ready to help the sector to boost exports, we can help them in pricing, besides exempt them from inspections,” said Tarar. The country has phenomenal potential for doing quality drugs exports as the government would encourage and facilitate manufacturers in pharmaceutical sector in every aspect, she said, adding that government would provide sooth to this sector for enhancing exports of medicines from the country. “New blood coming into the DRAP would definitely bring some change in functioning of pharma industry regulator.” She said that the ministry following green signal from the authority concerned would recruit around 2,000 workers and 60 interns to help facilitate pharmaceutical sector. Tarar said the basic challenge her ministry has been facing regarding DPRAP was transparency. She suggested the pharma industry that come out and help the government to improve the working of the DRAP. The minister said there were some good people associated with the DRAP but working of the authority could not be improved till mechanism of working and technology being used by it was changed. Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) Chairman Hamid Raza said revenues of pharmaceutical industry the world over had reached $1 trillion while in year 2020 these revenues would reach $1.6 trillion. Pakistan pharmaceutical sector with $3 billion sales volume accounted for 0.212 percent of the global pharma industry, he said. Dr Kaiser Waheed, Dr Muhammad Aslam, Khalid Mehmood and Prof Dr Marcel Corstjens along with experts also addressed the event.