Imran Khan inaugurates Pakistan's first indigenous ventilator manufacturing facility

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Dubai - The NRTC has already produced 15 units of SafeVent SP100 ventilators and has a capacity to manufacture 250-300 units per month.

By Waheed Abbas

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Published: Mon 6 Jul 2020, 6:33 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Jul 2020, 1:03 AM

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday inaugurated the production facility of the first indigenously developed ventilators in the country at the National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) in Haripur.

Fawad Chaudhry, Minister for Science and Technology; Omar Ayub, Minister for Energy; Dr. Faisal Sultan, PM's Focal Person for Covid-19; and Lt. General Muhammad Afzal, Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), were also present at the occasion.


The prime minster was given a detailed briefing about the history, sectors of research and development, products and services of NRTC.

The NRTC has already produced 15 units of SafeVent SP100 ventilators and has a capacity to manufacture 250-300 units per month.

The prime minister commended the initiative of NRTC team and the Ministry of Science and Technology for successfully producing the locally-made ventilators.

"We have abundant talent in our country to take us to self-reliance in new technological innovation and our government will strongly support any initiative to harness the potential of our youth," said Imran Khan.

The prime minister stated that the government's approach in response to the pandemic and adopting the smart lockdown while keeping the economy afloat has been widely acknowledged.

"It is a historic day. Prime Minister Imran Khan handed over the first batch of ventilators to NDMA. Originally, 57 designs were submitted to Pakistan Engineering Council and four of them were selected. NRTC handed over the first batch of commercially-manufactured ventilators. Three more facilities - two in private sector and one in public sector - will be manufacturing ventilators within the country. This will take to four the number of companies that will manufacture ventilators in the country," said Fawad Chaudhry.

"As a result of this initiative, Pakistan will have a huge medical equipment industry which will help the country cut down on its import bill by $1 billion in three years. In five years, Pakistan will not have to import any medical equipment," Chaudhry said in a video message released on Monday.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com


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