A massive fire at the cargo village of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport has dealt a major blow to the country’s pharmaceutical industry. The Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) has said that raw materials worth around Tk 200 crore of top 45 pharmaceutical companies have been gutted in the blaze.

Claiming that there is a risk of disruption to the production of life-saving medicines, including antibiotics, cancer, diabetes, and vaccines, BAPI says that the overall economic impact of this incident could reach around 4,000 crore taka.

BAPI Secretary General Dr. Md. Zakir Hossain gave this information at an emergency press conference on Tuesday (October 21) at around 11:30 am.

He said that a huge fire broke out at the cargo village of Shahjalal International Airport on October 18, destroying vital raw materials for the country’s pharmaceutical industry. This sudden loss has exposed the entire sector to multiple risks and uncertainties.

Dr. Zakir said that there are currently 307 pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in the country, of which about 250 companies are actively producing. According to the initial survey of BAPI, the top 45 companies alone have burned about 200 crore taka worth of raw materials. If the losses of other companies are included, the total loss will be much higher.

He further said that the raw materials burnt in the fire included ingredients for making antibiotics, vaccines, hormones, diabetic and cancer drugs. Not only that, some important spare parts and machineries have also been damaged, which will take time to re-import. As a result, the production process will be disrupted and the export schedule will also be affected.

BAPI Secretary General said, “Our pharmaceutical industry is making a very important contribution to the country’s economy and public health. Currently, quality medicines made in Bangladesh are exported to more than 160 countries, including developed countries like the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia. But this fire will cause a major setback to the production chain.”

He said that about 90 percent of the raw materials used in the country’s pharmaceutical industry come from China, India and Europe. A large part of these raw materials are used in the production of life-saving drugs, which are usually imported by air. These valuable raw materials have been destroyed in the fire at the Cargo Village. On the other hand, there are also concerns about the products that are being unloaded at other airports as an alternative, because they also have to be kept at a certain temperature.

Further complications have arisen with the products approved by the Narcotics Department. Dr. Zakir Hossain said that re-importing these products is very complicated and time-consuming, as it requires multiple approvals in stages. As a result, great uncertainty has been created in this regard as well.

BAPI believes that the impact of this loss will extend beyond the direct raw material. “If a raw material is lost, the production of every finished product that depends on that material will be uncertain. As a result, we estimate that there will be an overall economic impact of about 4 thousand crore taka,” said Dr. Zakir Hossain.

He urged the relevant government agencies to expedite investigations, provide effective compensation, and strengthen alternative cargo management.