Launch pad for Chinese firms

Chinese healthcare companies will dominate Arab Health this year.

Chinese companies have returned to Arab Health with the biggest pavilion as medical needs in this region increase.

This year, 553 companies from the country will feature at the show. About 70 per cent are manufacturers of medical disposables, such as syringes, needles and gloves as well as those used in urology, gastroenterology, anaesthesia, gynaecology and paediatrics. The share of the segment was around 65 per cent last year.

“The Middle East market is good and the amount of need is growing every year,” said Jack Wei, the official from the event organiser Informa, responsible for the Chinese pavilion. “With some Middle East countries in war, the demand for medical devices and medical disposables is high.”

For Chinese manufacturers, the UAE is a launch pad to other markets such as Africa, especially North Africa, and Europe, he says.

In 2011, China exported US$13.06 billion worth of medical devices, a rise from $10.39bn in the previous year, according to the latest statistics from World Trade Atlas’ China Customs. The largest importers were the United States, Germany and Japan.

But the trade with Africa is growing by 13 per cent year-on-year, higher than the growth rate of exports to Europe and North Africa, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

The country exported medical products worth $1.47bn to Africa in the first nine months of 2012, says the China Chamber of Commerce.

The number of deals that Chinese companies are signing at Arab Health is also increasing by 5 to 10 per cent year-on-year, Mr Wei said.

“Nowadays Chinese manufacturers pay more attention to quality than price,” he added.

The medical laboratory segment is another fast-growing area of business at Arab Health. This year, some 50 companies at the Chinese pavilion will be exhibiting their laboratory equipment, a rise from 38 companies last year.

Within the UAE and at the Dubai Biotechnology and Research Park (DuBiotech) in particular, it is a growing market.

The nation’s two major laboratories are Mubadala Healthcare’s National Reference Laboratory and Diagnostika, with two more product-testing facilities to be housed at DuBiotech already signed up.

The free zone houses laboratories as well as offices, warehouses and plots of land.

“The growth in private laboratories will continue as there will be more emphasis on diagnostics,” said Marwan Abdulaziz, executive director at DuBiotech. “With the mandatory health insurance in Dubai, healthcare costs will be cut because the payer is now responsible and it will be important to get the diagnostics right.”

Visitor and exhibitor numbers have also grown at ArabLab, another trade show, which will host its 31st edition from March 17. Businesses showcase their laboratory ware and instruments at the event. Last year, the event attracted more than 10,800 visitors from 99 countries and 812 exhibitors, of whom 45 per cent were regional businesses, according to the organisers.

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