By Muhammad Luqman
Pakistan’s Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said that the first batch of ventilators manufactured locally will be delivered to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in the coming week.
In a video statement on Sunday, he said that Pakistan has joined the ranks of those few countries in the world which are producing their own ventilators.
According to the minister, the ventilator is a “complicated machine and not a lot of countries in the world have the capacity to make this”.
The minister hoped that the country would be able to meet its own need for ventilators besides exporting the equipment.
“When the first Covid-19 case was recorded on February 26, we were not producing anything. Within a few months, we have become capable of producing our own equipment,” he said, congratulating the Pakistan Engineering Council, National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) and scientists .
Federal Minister for Science & Technology @fawadchaudhry announced the launch of the first #MadeInPakistan ventilators. pic.twitter.com/vhYlrRpHs9
— Ministry of Science & Technology (@MinistryofST) June 28, 2020
Chaudhry also tweeted earlier in the day, announcing that eight to 10 ventilators manufactured in the first batch will be delivered to the NDMA.
He said the next three designs are also in their final stages, after which Pakistan will be among the few countries in the world that manufacture complex medical machines, in accordance with European Union (EU) standards.
Besides ventilators, Pakistan has lately become self-sufficient in the production of face masks to meet its domestic needs besides making exports to the quality concious countries of the West.
“Pakistani exporters have received large orders of face masks from United States, Canada and Europe,” says Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood .
He congratulated the exporters and termed their achievement a major breakthrough in the country’s export sector.
“I have received information that some exporters have obtained large orders for face masks from US, Canada and Europe. This is a major breakthrough and I congratulate them for this achievement,” he said.
