1,100 ventilators being produced per month: Fawad

SIALKOT: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Hussain Chaudhry has said that the region comprising Sialkot, Gujranwala and Wazirabad had a great industrial and economic potential as it had been a prominent centre of entrepreneurship for the last three centuries.

While addressing the industrialists and exporters at the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the federal minister said that only 10 per cent of the total efforts and attention given to promote Gwadar Port could had change the fate of the dynamic areas consisting of Sialkot, Gujranwala and Wazirabad and benefitted not only Punjab but the whole country.

He said that serious and sincere efforts were needed to promote modern technologies on regular basis to deal with the issues related to constantly rising population of the country and declining production and resources.

He said that Sialkot-based industrialists had a great potential to come forward but they had to modernise themselves.

The federal minister told that the country had nothing to deal with COVID-19 when the epidemic started in February 2020, but within four to five months, Pakistan stooped importing and started exporting items related to deal with COVID-19.

He said currently, 1,100 ventilators were being produced in the country per month. Fawad Chaudhry said that Sialkot-based industrialists-cum-exporters had been doing great job for many decades in order to earn valuable foreign exchange for the national exchequer by producing top quality sports and surgical goods.

He said that the government was ready to establish a multi-functioning testing laboratory if the local business community takes responsibility for maintaining and run the laboratory on public-private partnership basis.

He said that mapping must be done in order to ascertain which kind of testing facilities were available and which were not. He told that soon a material bank would also be established to help the industrialists.

He opined that Sialkot must be given the status of special economic zone to enhance its industrial potential.

In his address, SCCI president Qaisar Iqbal highlighted the unique industry and export oriented background of Sialkot and various projects being underway to promote business.

He demanded that Sialkot-based industrialists must be given 50 per cent subsidy regarding tests till the laboratory was established here.

Special Assistant to PM on Youth Affairs M Usman Dar, Punjab Minister for Special Education Ch Muhammad Ikhlaq and Brig (retd) Aslam Ghumman were also present.

Malik Ashraf, Fazal Jilani, Majid Raza Bhutta, Khawar Anwar Khawaja, Hasan Ali Bhatti, Ch Abdul Waheed and others also spoke.

Earlier, the federal minister inaugurated a model police station at Rangpura.

Later, he visited the Jinnah House to address the PTI workers.