Federal Minister for Science and Technology Senator Shibli Faraz said on Saturday that the plastic industry in Pakistan was expanding at an annual growth of 15 percent during the last few years. Addressing the ceremony after inaugurating the Project of Upgradation of Polymer and Plastic Laboratory here at PCSIR, he added that the project directly related to the objectives of the sector especially in terms of Pakistan Vision 2025 chalked out by the Planning Commission of Pakistan which included the up-gradation of infrastructure, as well as R&D facilities in Polymer and Plastics Technology. Moreover, this would put Polymer and Plastics Laboratory in a comparatively better position to assist the private sector in terms of various scientific services that is required to sustain and augment its productivity in the field of Polymer Science, he added. The Federal Minister said the project would enhance available facilities at Polymers and Plastics Laboratory, PCSIR Lahore. It would also provide advisory and information services for the sake of improvement in the quality of polymer-based products and would also lead to the provision of testing and evaluation facilities for the Polymer and Plastics Industry in Pakistan. Senator Shibli Faraz congratulated the administration and Chairman PCSIR and encouraged them to continue striving for excellence. The Federal Minister for Science and Technology also inaugurated Technology Transfer and Capacity Building Centre and Technology Innovation Support Centre. The center aimed to enhance the impact of research through engagement with industry and non-industry partners. In addition to this, the federal minister visited Precision Greenhouse for ginger cultivation. Pakistan itself is not a ginger cultivating country and hence resulting in imports of nearly 79 thousand tons of ginger in 2017. “Ministry of Science and Technology has taken a step towards ginger cultivation by building Precision Hydroponic Greenhouse. This will enable self-reliance production of ginger in Pakistan and help in technology transfer to the farmers and local growers,” said Senator Shibli Faraz.