ISLAMABAD, March 28: The government has convened a crucial meeting here on Friday to discuss problems faced by the local pharmaceutical industry and interruption in drugs supply in the aftermath of imposition of 15 per cent general sales tax on all medicines last week.

Abdul Razak Dawood, minister for commerce and industries, would preside over the meeting, sources said on Thursday.

The pharmaceutical dealers have stopped lifting of drugs from the industries after imposition of 15 per cent GST and have demanded of the government to review the decision. The government is bound under the IMF conditionalities to impose GST on medicines, but the decision has been criticised by the people from almost all walks of life across the country.

The minister would also listen to the issues the local pharma-industry face while competing with multinationals. The local industry accuses multinational pharmaceuticals of using unfair business means in connivance with the health and commerce ministry officials to wipe out local industry.

The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (APMA) has alleged in appeals to President General Pervez Musharraf that multinational firms, taking undue advantage of their business size, exercise enormous influence on government departments including health, finance and patent office of the commerce ministry.

They have raised the point that notwithstanding the fact that even multinationals were marketing many products including life-saving injectable items manufactured by the local companies yet they were maligning local industry of low standards. This, they said, was happening despite the fact that prices of locally manufactured life-saving drugs were up to 2200 per cent lower than those manufactured by multinationals.

Meanwhile, the commerce minister would also be presiding over a meeting of export development fund (EDF) to review the performance of export sector during the current fiscal year and estimates for the future keeping in mind the prevailing market conditions.

The EDF meeting would also finalize ways and means to enhance exports in the remaining period of current fiscal year and take full advantage of market access in the Europe and China.