Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed the resolve to chalk out a comprehensive vision to improve living standard of common people and to bring people out of poverty.

Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad on Thursday, he said self-belief is panacea for development, progress, and self-reliance. He said we have to go towards knowledge economy, education, science and technology to get a dignified place among comity of nations.

The Prime Minister said COVID-19 crisis provided an opportunity to produce locally manufactured ventilators and other protective equipment as everything cannot be imported.

Imran Khan said we have to improve our hospitals and revamp our medical infrastructure in the country. He said hospitals will not improve unless elite, including ministers, does not go there for treatment.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister also inspected various medical equipment produced by various public sector organizations and private sector.

Minister of Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has said Pakistan is producing Personal Protective Equipment indigenously on affordable cost to face the challenge of COVID-19.  

Giving a briefing to Prime Minister Imran Khan during ceremony in Islamabad on Thursday, he said his ministry Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research is manufacturing hand sanitizers and disinfectants in large number and we can export these goods, even after meeting our local requirements. He said seven types of ventilators designed by Pakistan Engineering Council are in clinical trial, while National University of Science and Technology has developed its own testing kit.

Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said private sector, especially textile sector of Faisalabad, is producing protective gears for doctors and heal workers, beyond our domestic consumption.

Giving briefing to Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad during the ceremony, Minister of Defence Production Zobaida Jalal said Pakistanis have great mind and are able to overcome any kind of challenge. 

She said after emerging the COVID-19 we have mobilized our teams working under Ministry of Defence Production to prepare safety equipment in fight against coronavirus.

Zobaida Jalal said her ministry has achieved the capability to produce around 3000 to 4000 liters of sanitizers, 35,000 high quality masks and 400-500 protective suits per day.

She said production along with its establishments have stepped forward to complement national fight against COVID-19 and work out methodologies of utilizing existing industrial infrastructure for development of protective gears and other articles. She said we made possible all the production with our own resources. In this regard, NRCC utilized 10 million rupees from own resources.

She said that NRCC will start repairing of ventilators in Haripur and Lahore soon to meet any kind of emergency. Three hundred ventilators have so far been repaired by our engineers.  She said our Engineers are behind the scene of success doing combat the COVID-19.     

Khattak/Akram/Asmaa