São Paulo – The online seminar “Medical Devices Sector in the United Arab Emirates” presented opportunities in this segment for Brazilian companies on Friday (22). During the event, Elaine Prates, institutional relations analyst at the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) shared data on the country’s economy and medical sector.
The event was held by the Brazilian Health Devices project, spearheaded by the Brazilian Association of Medical Device Manufacturers and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) and served as a warm-up for events that will take place in the UAE in early 2025.
According to the data presented by Prates, the gross domestic product of the UAE totaled USD 504 billion in 2023, with an expected growth of 4% this year. The country is currently focused on diversifying its economy to become less dependent on oil revenues.
Healthcare and hospital services are public and free for Emiratis but charged to expatriates, who make up 88% of the population of 9.1 million people in the UAE. Data from the local health ministry presented by Prates show that the leading causes of death in the country include heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and diabetes. In the UAE, the annual per capita health expenditure is USD 5,000 on average. In Brazil and other Arab countries outside the Gulf, this expenditure is USD 500 and USD 1,000 per year, respectively.
“The UAE is a strategic market for the Brazilian medical, laboratory and dental devices sector due to the lack of significant local production, making the country highly dependent on imports, as well as the fact that Dubai and Abu Dhabi are global hubs for medical tourism, requiring cutting-edge technology and innovations to serve both local citizens and the large community of expatriates and tourists attracted by their advanced healthcare services,” said Prates after her participation in the event.
UAE offers access to various regions through free trade zones
“The Human Health sector was the fastest-growing sector in the UAE between 2011 and 2021, with a 240% increase, rising from USD 4.7 million to USD 15.9 million, according to government data,” she said.
Also a speaker at the seminar, a market analyst at ApexBrasil in Dubai, Antonio Braga, presented the agency’s activities from its office in the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai, where the homonymous port is located. “Dubai’s port has positioned itself very well as a business hub, with ideas of economic diversification. Many of the products that reach the East and the Gulf benefit from free trade [due to the port’s free zone], avoid double taxation, and cut the route short. Africa is also accessed from here,” he said, referring to potential markets that can be reached from Jebel Ali.
Regulatory issues, legal requirements, and timelines for obtaining export registrations to the country were presented by the CCO of Grupo Passarini, Paulo Passarini. Adriano Azevedo, market intelligence analyst at ApexBrasil, also spoke at the event, sharing details about medical products and their export potential.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda