Article:
ISSUE No.3 March - April 2007

Arab Health 2007
German Exhibitors at the Top

Arab Health is the biggest and most important event for healthcare in the Middle East and was held from 29 January to 1 February 2007 in the Dubai International Exhibition Center. This year, over 2,000 exhibitors from 67 countries seized the opportunity to present themselves at the world’s leading contact and information exchange for medical technology, hospital equipment and medical services.

Many companies appeared collectively in the 30 national pavilions, both to draw attention to their own products and offers and construct a national identity as a location for medical technology and know-how. This year, the German pavilion recorded the highest number of exhibitors. Over 260 companies appeared at Arab Health with their own stand and a further 85 companies were involved as sub-exhibitors. Consequently, the German pavilion has grown enormously from 400 m² in 1989 to 3,600 m² this year. Furthermore, the federal states of Berlin, Bavaria, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein were all represented with general information stands. A special manifestation in this year’s Arab Health was the participation of 130 companies from the state of Baden-Württemberg. However, numerous leading companies from German medical technology, hospital suppliers and private clinics also participated in Arab Health outside the German Pavilion and used the fair as a platform to initiate and foster business contacts on the Arab market.   

There has been considerable growth in the healthcare sector throughout the Middle East region. Today, Saudi Arabia is one of the most significant markets for medical products, followed closely by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Substantial government investments in the UAE, the other Gulf States and Saudi Arabia aim to reduce health tourism to Europe in the long term by bringing local healthcare up to the western standard. Arab Health serves as a door-opener in the Middle East and, with the strategic location of Dubai, is situated right at the heart of the future Arab region. The stable political situation in the Middle East and the steadily growing health market throughout the Gulf Region offer excellent prospects for the exhibitors.    

A long-term project has been initiated by the CEDARS group from Dubai in collaboration with Stuttgart Hospital and Tübingen University Hospital. A complex comprising four basic components will be built on an area of 100,000 m² in the Dubai Techno Park: a teaching hospital and a school of medicine of Tübingen University, training centres for nurses, medical technicians and paramedics, a medicine technology park to accommodate German companies and a guesthouse for patients, staff and visitors. With an investment volume of 320 US$, the project has been given the highest priority on both the German and Emirati sides as it is set to raise the standard of healthcare in Dubai and facilitate the transfer of German know-how to the whole region. In January, a delegation of German partners and interested parties travelled to Dubai to pool their strengths and reach concrete agreements. The participants included the mayor of Stuttgart for Health Services and Administration, Klaus-Peter Murawski, Stuttgart architect Georg Kieferle and the Medical Director of Stuttgart Hospital, Prof. Claude Krier.
The foundations for the ambitious project are due start this year under the management of  Dr. Adnan Kaddaha, Chairman & Managing Director of Cedars J.A.I.H. & CEDARS International, and Prof. Günther Kieninger, Medical Director at CEDARS J.A.I.H. Operations are expected to commence in 2010. After the successful implementation of the project in the Dubai Techno Park as an example of the quality and knowledge transfer of German medical technology, CEDARS International is also to be assigned to other markets. Interested companies can contact CEDARS via anne.becker@cedars-jaih.com
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