President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan has advised the manufacturers/ suppliers/ distributors/ importers/ exporters of essential COVID-19 related accessories being used to protect the public and medical professionals from coronavirus pandemic to contact KCCI as soon as possible so that their details could be shared with the Ministry of Industries & Production which plans to hold an important exhibition titled “Safety Comes First”.
In a statement issued, President KCCI informed that the Engineering Development Board of the Ministry of Industries & Production is trying to scale up the local production capacity of numerous industries engaged in the production of protective equipment with a view to make all the relevant industries self-sufficient and capable enough to provide smoothly provide protective equipment during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation in Pakistan.
“In this connection, EDB intends to organize ‘Safety Comes First’ Exhibition during the 1st week of July 2020 in Islamabad to showcase the country’s potential and the efforts being made by the local manufacturers on this front to fight this pandemic”, he said, adding that the exhibition will feature display of locally manufactured Personal Protection Equipment and other pertinent medical devices.
Agha Shahab was of the opinion that many industries in Karachi have the ability of producing good quality personal protective equipment as per international standards including protective kits, face masks or face shield, gloves, protective gears, gowns, goggles, head covers, rubber boots and sanitizers etc. It is a well-known fact that the local production of these items is cost competitive as compared to the imports and numerous industries are also ready to tap the export potential in the global markets where the demand for all such products has risen sharply due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Recognizing the emerging market of health safety items domestically as well as globally, special handholding at the government level is required to encourage the industry, he opined and expressed satisfaction over Ministry of Industries & Production’s intention to promote Pakistani made personal protective equipment through an exhibition.
He once again requested relevant industrialists, businessmen and traders to contact KCCI at the earliest so that their details could be forwarded to the Ministry for participation in the two-day long exhibition in which all the prescribed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will be observed for the safety of participants as well as the visitors.