Barzan Holding Company, in cooperation with US company Wilcox, is expected to produce 2,000 Savr-Q ventilators a week.

Qatar has started manufacturing artificial respiratory machines in order to cover the requirements of the health sector domestically and to export internationally, in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani visited the Barzan Holding Company, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Defense, and was briefed on the production lines for manufacturing the Savr-Q ventilators.

Sheikh Tamim also met a number of Qatari engineers at the company’s research and development centre who are working to produce devices that conform to the standards of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Barzan will produce the ventilators through a strategic partnership with the American company, Wilcox, in order to cover the health sector’s requirements in the country.

“It is a small, light device, made for civilian and military use,” Saud Abdullah al-Mana’i, the assistant project manager for Savr-Q, told Al Jazeera. “It is 100 percent Qatari in terms of engineering and manufacturing.”

In light of the increasing global demand for ventilators for the treatment of people infected with coronavirus, the company is estimated to produce 2,000 ventilators a week, with the aim of reaching internal self-sufficiency and international export.

The new coronavirus, which has infected more than three million people worldwide and killed about a quarter of a million people, has resulted in an increased global demand for the mechanical ventilation industry.