Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh and Regional Chairman Muhammad Nadeem Qureshi said that the packaging sector is the backbone of all industries and the government should grant industry status to it in order to reap maximum benefits.
Elaborating, they said that the widespread popularity of online businesses and e-commerce had increased the importance and value of the packaging sector.
Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that the packaging industry is one of Pakistan’s leading and creative sectors as it works as the major backbone to fulfill the export-oriented and domestic industry’s requirements.
The packaging industry is the 5th largest industry of Pakistan after textile and is the second-largest industry in South Asia after India. All packaging materials and products such as paper, cardboard, wrapping film, tape, plastics, glass, metal and wood are manufactured in Pakistan. Over the last few years has seen an increase in terms of innovations and environment-friendly production. New technologies are being used to process the main materials to allow the utilization of packaging according to the product’s physical and chemical properties, they added.Muhammad Nadeem Qureshi said that unfortunately, it had not been given industry status. The government is requested to give the packaging sector the “industry” status. After industry status, many businesspeople from this sector have come into the tax net, increasing the government’s income. He further said the packaging industry mainly consists of SMEs. The small and medium enterprise (SME) sector was the backbone of the economy and it contributed immensely to uplifting the industries and creating employment opportunities. The SME sector “only requires exposure to export its products and once it is achieved, Pakistan’s balance of trade will improve,” he added.
