Daily Times

LAHORE: In an unprecedented development to boost economy, Pakistan is all set to build country’s first-ever NAPHTHA Cracker Complex (NCC), a state-of-the-art infrastructure to change petrochemical raw substances into value-added products ranging from construction, home décor, appliances, furniture, medical care, paints, cleaning stuff and top of them military gadgets.

As of now there is no naphtha cracker complex in Pakistan, while India has nine such complexes providing it a tremendous mileage in industrial and economic progress. At present, Pakistan has to buy all petrochemical feedstock from international market that take heavy toll on import bill and prices of long range of items used by chemical industry, mainstay of trade and manufacturing business and people in their daily routine. The naphtha cracker complex will revolutionise industrial landscape and life of the common man simultaneously.

The game-changing development came after 18-member delegation of the Pakistan Chemical Manufacturing Association (PCMA) met recently with Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms in his office, Islamabad where it was announced to build a naphtha cracker complex to catalyse economic progress.

Acknowledging the naphtha cracker complex as a strategic need, the minister suggested the PCMA to prepare a feasibility report and viable business plan in consultation with market experts and technologists to help ministry make it a reality.

It was shared in the meeting that the cracker would have a great impact on all industrial zones to be set up along the route of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

To rejuvenate the chemical industry, the meeting also acknowledged the efforts of the PCMA delegation, which recently visited China to materialise 33 projects and a joint venture with the Chinese chemical giants.

The meeting said that the Planning Commission would soon summon a roundtable to promote industry-academia linkages in creating ‘Knowledge Economy’ by involving the PCMA and all the heads of chemical/ chemistry departments of major universities, including HEC, from February 15 to February 20. It was also decided that the PCMA would carve out a 10-year plan as a pragmatic roadmap for chemical industry.

Present at the meeting were PCMA Vice Chairman Abrar Ahmad, Secretary General Iqbal Khawaja, senior member Pervez A Khan, Pharmagen Managing Director Pervez Sufi, Ittehad Chemicals CEO Ghulam Mustafa and Dr Farrukh Mukhtar.