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Pakistan all set to roll out locally produced medical equipment: Fawad
Medical products worth $1.4 billion will be replaced by domestic manufacturing, says sci-tech minister
ISLAMABAD:
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday that Pakistan is all set to establish the medical equipment manufacturing industry in a bid to replace imports worth $1.4 billion, adding that steps are also being taken to locally produce electromagnetic instruments.
Fawad said the science and technology ministry has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Faisalabad Industrial Estate and Management Company (FIEDMC) – the developing body of Allama Iqbal Special Economic Zone (SEZ) – and a medical city of 200 acres is already situated in Faisalabad.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, the minister said that the businesses which will operate in SEZ will remain tax-free for a period of 10 years and no custom duty will be charged on import of machinery – the only one in Punjab. Two units were being set up in the medical zone with the help of FIEDMC, he added.
Fawad said that the whole process of importing and setting up of the machinery will take six to eight months and, in the first phase, production of syringes, needles, cannulas, cartridges, wires/cables and cardiac stents will start within the stipulated time. In the second phase, he said, the production of X-ray and dialysis machines will start in Pakistan.
He termed the local production of medical equipment a revolutionary step saying the local manufacturing will reduce the cost of medical products by 50 per cent.
Citing an example, Fawad said 1.5 billion syringes were imported in the last one year alone and added that with the start of local production there will be no shortage of these items particularly in the government hospitals.
“On February 26 – when first cases of coronavirus surfaced in Pakistan – we were importers of medical equipment, including ventilators. Now, we are producing 1,150 ventilators every month.”
tribune.com.pk
Medical products worth $1.4 billion will be replaced by domestic manufacturing, says sci-tech minister
ISLAMABAD:
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday that Pakistan is all set to establish the medical equipment manufacturing industry in a bid to replace imports worth $1.4 billion, adding that steps are also being taken to locally produce electromagnetic instruments.
Fawad said the science and technology ministry has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Faisalabad Industrial Estate and Management Company (FIEDMC) – the developing body of Allama Iqbal Special Economic Zone (SEZ) – and a medical city of 200 acres is already situated in Faisalabad.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, the minister said that the businesses which will operate in SEZ will remain tax-free for a period of 10 years and no custom duty will be charged on import of machinery – the only one in Punjab. Two units were being set up in the medical zone with the help of FIEDMC, he added.
Fawad said that the whole process of importing and setting up of the machinery will take six to eight months and, in the first phase, production of syringes, needles, cannulas, cartridges, wires/cables and cardiac stents will start within the stipulated time. In the second phase, he said, the production of X-ray and dialysis machines will start in Pakistan.
He termed the local production of medical equipment a revolutionary step saying the local manufacturing will reduce the cost of medical products by 50 per cent.
Citing an example, Fawad said 1.5 billion syringes were imported in the last one year alone and added that with the start of local production there will be no shortage of these items particularly in the government hospitals.
“On February 26 – when first cases of coronavirus surfaced in Pakistan – we were importers of medical equipment, including ventilators. Now, we are producing 1,150 ventilators every month.”
Pakistan all set to roll out locally produced medical equipment: Fawad | The Express Tribune
Medical products worth $1.4 billion will be replaced by domestic manufacturing, says sci-tech minister
