Middle East Prominent for Healthcare

The Middle East is becoming the ‘centre of the world’ for specialised healthcare companies seeking a share of the region’s new hospital construction market, according to a leading industry player.

“The trend is particularly true for operating theatres,” said Salah Malek, Middle East Managing Director of Maquet, the world’s leading specialist in surgical workplaces and medical technology. “In the developed world

the market is more about upgrading facilities, but here the number of hospitals keeps on mushrooming and new operating theatres are on a steep growth curve.”

Maquet, part of Sweden’s Gettinge Group and participants at the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress will be erecting two full-scale and fully-equipped 35 square metre examples of their operating theatres on the stand. These also convert into one 70-square metre hybrid theatre equipped with medical imaging technology. More than 2,000 of the modular Variop operating theatres have been constructed around the world and Maquet

have installed almost 60 of them, along with three intensive care units, in the Middle East.

With the addition of four new halls at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Arab Health Exhibition running from 25-28 January 2010 has been expanded by 20,000 square metres to accommodate more exhibitors, according to the organiser, IIR Middle East.

“Gulf Co-operation Council countries is expected to grow at about 9% annually to reach $47 billion to $55 billion by 2020, according to a recent report by Alpen Capital. Maquet are a good example of a major international company recognising the continued growth in healthcare in the region and the opportunities this affords, which is reflected in the increase in the size of Arab Health in 2010 by around 20%,” said Dave Panther, Sponsorship Director of the event.