Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry Tuesday assured that his ministry was working on a plan to introduce stricter quality standards to prevent the sale of spurious electronic items in country and these standards would be implemented after the Cabinet approval soon.
Talking to a private news channel, the minister announced that the government would soon come up with a new policy and mechanize to promote local manufacturing of electronic items with quality standards for bright future of the country.
This will mean that low quality switches and boards would not be imported after implementation of these standards, he mentioned.
Fawad said, “Only standard electronics products can be sold in Pakistan in coming future”. Hopefully, standards of locally manufactured cars and tractors would also be upgraded in the next phase, he added. “If we want to achieve progress in the world then we have to develop and adhere to standards,” he emphasized. “We need Industries full cooperation in this regard as because of their resistance we are now facing some hurdles,” he added.
The country’s manufacturing programme was introduced with the aim of boosting local manufacture of electronic and electrical products and increasing the use of locally-produced components, he said.
“This new policy will give a decent opportunity for domestic players to gain market share and at the same time, still allowing foreign firms to choose Pakistan as their manufacturing destination.
Made in Pakistan dialysis machine would be in markets soon and it is expected to reduce cost of the medical procedure, he mentioned.
The new dialysis machine would provide the hope of affordable treatment to renal patients and neurologists in Pakistan, he highlighted.
He said that Pakistani standard goods would meet to international standards and Medical devices standards are now in country working with European standards.
Fawad Chaudhry pointed out that when the country’s first COVID-19 case was reported in February there was a shortage of such medical equipment and the south Asian nation was not in a position to manufacture it in enough quantities indigenously.
However, Pakistani engineers and medics took this challenge in a short span, the country is now ready to not just cater to local demand, but also export high-quality medical equipment to countries who most need it.
He said dollars are coming through these medical devices successful exports which is a big achievements of Pakistani scientists and researchers. He said government further preparing mechanize for the export of Medical devices.
Replying to another question about the announcement of Eid-ul-Azha, Minister of Science said that i just announced the date of Eid in remembrance of cattle related policies and Eid dates were already mentioned in calender, adding that, Cattle Mandies can now prepare their SOPs implementation plans for upcoming event in a peaceful manner.
He said Islam is a forward-looking religion and encourages its followers to acquire knowledge, adopt technology and apply logic.
“We should dismiss contrary opinions that discourage adopting science for progress,” he added.
Talking about virtual session of the Sindh Assembly, he congratulated Sindh government for its approval.
He said that in the time of the pandemic, it was not possible to convene regular budget sessions of the assemblies in which all members could physically participate.
“We should be extremely careful as so many members have been infected with coronavirus after attending the recent sessions of the assemblies,” he added.