In a yet another boost to the Made in Pakistan initiative, Pakistan has allowed the export of locally manufactured N95 & Surgical masks.
On Tuesday, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry announced that the export of N95 and surgical masks have been approved by the government.
Pakistan government has approved the agreement to export N95 and surgical masks according to the tweet of Ministry of Science and Technology, “When the first Covid-19 case was detected in Pakistan on Feb 26, we were importing all PPE items. Today, Alhamdulillah, Pakistan is becoming a major exporter of materials for protection against the coronavirus,” Mr. Chaudhry said in a message on Twitter.
وفاقی کابینہ نے آج N-95 اور سرجیکل ماسک کی ایکسپورٹ کی اجازت بھی دے دی PPE کی فہرست میں یہ آخری آئیٹم تھے جن کی ایکسپورٹ پر پابندی تھی،26 فروری کو پہلا COVID کیس پاکستان میں آیا تو ہم تمام PPE آئٹم امپورٹ کر رہے تھے آج الحمدللہ پاکستان COVID Materials کا بڑا آیکسپورٹر ہے #Covid
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 18, 2020
According to him, orders worth 100 million dollars for exports of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) made in Pakistan have been received from around the world, Europe is the major region from where a large number of orders have been received. It is expected that equipment worth 500 million dollars of orders will be received by the end of 2020. The N95 and surgical masks were the last items on the list whose exports were banned, he added.
“We are now producing masks, including N95, gloves, face shields, gowns and shoes cover for local hospitals, and even exporting them to other countries,” the minister said. Moreover, the local industry in Faisalabad has started manufacturing N95 masks about 3 months ago.
In the ministerial meeting in July, the government had sought an assessment report from the provinces and the National Disaster Management Authority before it could consider the export of locally manufactured N95 masks. Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry during the last month’s meeting said that many countries want to import coronavirus fighting equipment from Pakistan.
The last month’s meeting proved to be influential and now the Pakistan government has permitted to export N95 and surgical masks to other countries and particularly European countries as per their demand.
