PCMA urges govt to form one-window facilitation commission

LAHORE: Pakistan Chemical Manufacturers Association (PCMA) has urged the government to form a one-window facilitaton commission for establishment of the country’s first Petrochemical Complex.

PCMA secretary general Iqbal Kidwai on Tuesday said that the association since its inception two years ago, has been highlighting significance of a Petrochemical Complex for Pakistan and efforts have ultimately attracted the attention of local and foreign investors to invest in this momentous project, which needs strong patronage and support from the government authorities to turn the dream into reality.

A one-window support mechanism, comprising all ministries and departments concerned would not only enhance the confidence of prospective investors, but would also result in speedy completion of this mega venture, he said, adding that the complex, when established, would develop downstream of chemical industry by producing hundreds of high value chemicals within Pakistan, which will gradually decrease the imports of such chemicals with a single first year impact of around $2 billion to $3 billion import substitution.

The PCMA official said chemical imports amounted to over $11 billion to $14 billion, which is almost 17 percent of the total import bill and each year there is an average increase of seven percent on this account.

The global chemical industry, at present, is a $4 trillion enterprise, which impacts nearly every sector of the economy. The chemical businesses have prime significance in virtually every nation, driving innovation in six continents and supporting more than 20 million jobs.

Unfortunately, due to the absence of even a single cracker complex, downstream industry of Pakistan is dependent on imports, whereas India established its first cracker in 1992 and currently it owns eight crackers, Iran despite the sanctions has been able to put in place seven, Singapore owns five huge capacity state-of-the-art crackers, while Saudi Arabia owns 12.

“Pakistan has no cracker so far. Although, we have made considerable progress in basic inorganic chemicals such as soda ash, caustic soda, sulphuric acid and chlorine with sufficient production capacity; however, the lack of availability of other chemicals, including petrochemicals leads to dependence on imports, which surely does not benefit the economy, the PCMA secretary general added.