State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak said Bangladesh would produce ventilators, mechanical breathing devices, with the technical support from the US based medical device and solution providing company Medtronic.
“Medtronic would provide technical support to our local companies like Walton, through providing patent, source code, design, hardware and software of their PB560 ventilator. We have already held primary discussion with the company about the kind of technical support Bangladesh would need to produce the ventilator,” Palak told newsmen on Tuesday at a virtual briefing from his residence.
The state minister said local inventors and companies would be provided training in this regard and he has discussed the matter with concerned authorities including Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
“Though Walton has primarily expressed it interest in producing the ventilators through its own funding and with the technical support of Medtronic. But we cannot tell the exact date of starting the production or which companies are going to do this,” he added.
It is the production companies, which will ultimately take decision on whether to market their products commercially, government would only give them a guideline, Palak said.
The state minister said local companies and institutes like Walton, Myone, Minister, Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), StartUp Bangladesh, MadeInBangladesh, IDEA Project and ILab Innovation would work unitedly in the primary level of production.
“I think the production would take less time because of our partnership with Medtronic and it would further expedite the trend of innovation of our local technology companies and young inventors,” he further added.
