KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) has helped create export openings for Malaysian medical devices and healthcare services in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region by organising their participation in the Arab Health 2020 trade fair in Dubai recently.
Matrade director of lifestyle and life sciences Naim Abdul Rahman said the participation of the 18 firms was in line with move was also aimed at diversifying export markets from the usual Western Europe markets to emerging markets in the MENA region.
“Malaysia’s total exports of medical devices to the region in 2019 were valued at RM657.7 mil, accounting for a 2.75% share of Malaysia’s global exports, while total exports of medical devices reached RM23.9 bil, an increase of 3.6% over 2018,” he added in a statement.
Naim felt there is still a lot of potential to be explored, and participation in large-scale events such as Arab Health (on Jan 27-30) helps to boost Malaysia’s brand among the buyers there.
Products and services promoted to the over 100,000 global visitors to the fair included medical consumables, healthcare and wellness services as well as digital healthcare technology.
“Over the years, we can see that Malaysian medical devices are well accepted in the region, supported by Malaysia’s reputation as the world’s leading exporter of medical gloves and catheters, which are some key products categorised under medical devices,” Naim added.
Meanwhile, Matrade’s trade commissioner in Dubai, Omar Mohd Salleh, said the UAE government has allocated US$1.32 bil (RM5.47 bil) for its healthcare sector’s development in 2020, and this can translate into business opportunities for Malaysian companies.
“During Arab Health 2020, our Malaysian companies reported receiving enquiries and buyers not only from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries but also from as far away as the United States, Brazil, Belgium, Peru, Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana,” Omar noted.
The top five export destinations for Malaysian medical devices in the MENA region last year were Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Oman. – Feb 11, 2020, Bernama
