FHM Humayan Kabir

The country's lone drug packaging company would spread its wings within months to grab lucrative foreign market after successfully meeting a big chunk of local demands, company chief executive said Saturday.

Shurwid Industries (Pvt) Limited last year became the first company in the country to start producing medicine packaging products when its Tk 120 million PVC blister film plant went into operation.

Company managing director Zahedul Haque said the company has now captured some 15 per cent of the domestic market and is ramping up production this year to grab a slice abroad.

"We are now producing 50 tonnes of the film a month to supply to the domestic drug companies. Our products have impressed both local pharmaceutical giants and some overseas companies," he said.

"We have already received export orders from companies as far as United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and India. We will expand our facilities very soon to meet this growing demand," he added.

Prior to the launching of Shurwid Industries at Gazipur Bangladeshi drug manufacturers and some specialized garment producers used to import PVC blister film to pack their products.

The country has an annual demand of about 5,000 tonnes of PVC blister film worth around eight million US dollars with about 20 per cent consumed by the apparel manufacturers.

"At present, I am supplying my products to 53 local drug companies including Beximco, Eskayef and Incepta and a specialised ready-made garment (RMG) manufacturer," Hoque said.

"We are now negotiating with the UK, Dubai and Indian buyers. If we are successful, it will almost double our sales," he added.

The company imports the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved raw materials from the United States and Thailand to produce world-standard blister film.

"There is huge demand of PVC blister film in the local market. I will expand my production capacity. But an unfair duty structure on the raw materials and finished products is impeding me," Mr. Hoque said.