The UAE has established its position as one of the largest markets for medicines and medical equipment in the Middle East and North Africa, by providing an ideal environment for the growth of local and international pharmaceutical companies, which in turn contributes to enhancing the economic prosperity of the country.
Experts and sources working in the medical and pharmaceutical industries in the UAE confirmed that there are 10 factors that make the UAE a pioneer in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector in the region, which are the availability of new health technology, the keenness of official authorities to support talent development programs, and the policy of attracting minds and competencies in various fields, including the medical field.
The list of factors also included the availability of medical science incubators and pharmaceutical innovation, the flexibility of supply chains from the Emirates to the world, the development of the legislative structure that keeps pace with industry developments, the advancement and development of medical tourism, the incentives and investment facilities provided by the competent authorities, in addition to the high demand for medicines and medical equipment in the Emirates.
The region, in addition to the fact that the UAE is one of the fastest countries in the world in drug approvals, constitutes an incentive for investors in this sector.
Marwan Abdul Aziz Janahi, Managing Director of Dubai Science Park and head of the pharmaceutical and medical equipment sector working group within the “Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030”, Marwan Abdul Aziz Janahi, said that the health sector is witnessing many changes, which requires providing enabling factors for the success, acceleration, and adoption of these changes by creating incentive programs and attracting investors, including providing land, canceling industrial and operational licensing fees for 5-10 years, reducing electricity tariffs and visa costs, and adopting the principle of a single window for transactions in order to ensure the acceleration of administrative approvals, and regulatory standards must also be revised, licensing mechanisms, and guidelines to support innovative medicine and health technology companies.
At the level of the UAE, Janahi stressed that the prospects for the health care field until 2025 seem promising for institutions and companies working in this field thanks to a group of key factors represented in the availability of new health technology, innovative solutions, talent development programs and facilitating research and development in the fields of medicine, nursing, and biotechnology medicine, developing and enhancing the position of medical science incubators and pharmaceutical innovation, noting that these factors would attract patients from abroad in order to benefit from the medical services available in the country, which opens other horizons, including enhancing communication with airports and developing the base of manufacturing pharmaceuticals, medical consumables, and others.
This constitutes a roadmap full of opportunities and challenges, and this is what the complex is working on in cooperation with the various concerned authorities and institutions.
For his part, Chairman and CEO of DP World Group, Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, said that the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries market in the UAE is thriving, because of its strategic location in the heart of the Middle East.
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That makes the UAE in general and the emirate of Dubai in particular, an interesting investment destination, also because of its stability, advanced infrastructure, and modern technologies available, as well as attracting the best talents from around the world.
Bin Sulayem added that the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector in the free zone extends over an area of approximately 170 square kilometers, and the zone currently hosts 174 companies from 41 countries with more than 1,100 employees, and the free zone offers many advantages that provide an ideal environment to help companies develop and prosper.
The list of clients includes major companies such as Roche, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi, Novartis, Abbott, Bayer, Life Pharma, and others.
To contribute to the acceleration of growth, DP World always offers many incentives that help companies operating in Jafza Significantly.
He explained that in light of the UAE’s distinguished position as a leading global center for medical tourism, health care, and life sciences technology, and with the increasing demand for medicines and advanced healthcare services, this sector undoubtedly provides enormous potential and opportunities for pharmaceutical companies, and certainly will be due to the enormous capabilities that the state possesses.
In addition, the support of our partners from the pharmaceutical companies operating in Jafza plays a pivotal role in making a qualitative leap for this strategic sector.
In turn, Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, Chairman and Managing Director of VPS Healthcare and founder of “Life Pharma”, stated that the pharmaceutical industry in the UAE seeks to enter more global markets and manufacture international medicines locally and has huge potential to do so, noting that the pharmaceutical industry is an innovative growth engine in the UAE economy, especially as it combines advanced technologies and the expertise of highly skilled professionals, allowing the UAE to compete successfully in the global market and harness its current commercial and logistical strategy to support the sector.
Shamsheer Vayalil said that “Life Pharma” plans to enter 6 new countries by next year, which increases the number of countries to which it exports medicines from 12 to 18 markets around the world, noting that “Life Pharma” is the only company approved by the “USFDA” in the UAE.
In turn, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Ebron” Company, Muhammad Ahmed Al Mubarak, said that during the covid-19 crisis, the world realized the importance of medical emergency solutions in general, and mobile healthcare solutions in particular, through the presence of field hospitals and mobile hospitals that can be equipped quickly, and within a few weeks, to ensure that Patients receive good service and fast and distinctive healthcare solutions.
He added: “We have a factory that extends over an area of 5,002 square meters in Jafza, and we adopt in the factory all modern technologies such as glass fibers that are used in ambulances, plastics and digital control (CNC) in machines to implement all internal parts and manufacture spare parts with extreme accuracy,” referring to The factory is now able to manufacture all metal parts including steel, aluminum, cans and other supplies, and these advanced technologies help enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations.
Ashraf Sabry, CEO of Commercial and Marketing Affairs at New Country Healthcare, said that the challenges that accompanied the pandemic were great and unprecedented, which prompted us from the beginning to set our priorities, and at the top of those priorities is to serve our customers in the best possible way, while ensuring health and safety.
the team and the goal were to have the company’s products available in all pharmacies, supermarkets, and major electronic sales platforms, to serve our customers during these critical times.
He added that at the beginning there were difficulties in importing products and delivering them to customers, due to problems related to the supply chain, and we overcame these problems through the use of air freight, so the cost was a little higher, noting that the company was eventually able to serve its customers, providing vitamins and products that They need it to help them strengthen their immunity.
