Medicaments such as antibiotics, penicillin and provitamins make up almost 50 per cent of Italy’s medical exports to the UAE
The UAE and Italy enjoy robust ties in trade and commerce with a special focus on the medical sector. Italy has been at the forefront of bringing to UAE’s shores avant-garde medical products and equipment.
Exports of Italian medical and pharmaceutical products to the UAE reached €48 million in September last year, reinforcing the UAE’s reliance on Italian expertise for supporting its medical sector. The UAE’s healthcare sector relies on Italy’s €17 billion strong medical devices industry to meet its advanced medical needs. Fifty per cent of Italy’s export of medical and pharmaceutical products to the UAE is represented by medicaments (e.g., antibiotics, penicillin, antimalarials and provitamins). There is also an increasing interest in diagnostic equipment (including machinery for radiotherapy).
The Italian Trade Agency (ITA), in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy in the UAE and the Consulate General in Dubai, hosted 18 SMEs at the Arab Health exhibition on January 27th, 2022, at the Dubai World Trade Center in the presence of Italian government representatives. A wide range of products were exhibited including medical devices, ICT solutions for healthcare biotechnology, 3D printing, robotics, advanced materials, ICT, photonics and nanotechnologies.
Middle East Health sat down with H.E. Nicola Lener, Ambassador of Italy to the UAE, who gave us valuable insights into the burgeoning medical trade relations between Italy and the UAE.
Middle East Health: Could you please take us through your role as Italy’s Ambassador to the UAE?
H.E. Nicola Lener: One of my priorities here is to increase the economic presence of Italy and the relations, of course, with UAE. So definitely, developing economic and diplomatic ties is the priority for us.
Middle East Health: What are the UAE-Italy export/import figures?
H.E. Nicola Lener: Roughly our trade exchange is between €5 and €6 billion. Every year there is a trade surplus for Italy. We are, of course, keen not only to increase our exports but also our imports from the UAE, and the wider Middle East area, and to develop, in general, our relations. We know that Italy has been designated as one of the priority countries by the UAE authorities to increase its exports. I think this can help foster ties in more directions.
Middle East Health: Please give us an overview of the medical devices sector in Italy
H.E. Nicola Lener: The pharmaceutical sector is quite an important one. In Italy, we have roughly 4,400 companies in the medical sector with 100,000 professionals working in this sector, and with a turnover of around €17 billion out of which one third is exported, part of which in this region. The pharmaceutical sector has been performing well in the last five years. We are very pleased with the growth of the sector.
Middle East Health: How important a role does artificial intelligence play in medicine today?
H.E. Nicola Lener: It plays a major role. We’ve been visiting a number of companies here, and artificial intelligence plays a crucial role where diagnostics is involved and also for data analysis. We are increasingly integrating it into our medical devices sector. There’s a major thrust from the government in this direction.
Middle East Health: You’ve been instrumental in bringing SMEs from Italy to take part in major exhibitions in the UAE such as Arab Health. How are they augmenting the UAE landscape with their innovations and technologies?
H.E. Nicola Lener: The Italian Trade Agency, in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy in the UAE and the Consulate General in Dubai, has set up the Italian pavilion here at the exhibition, showcasing the valuable technological resources of the SMEs we have, which are the backbone of our economy. These companies are not only showcasing digital solutions, and innovation in the use of machine learning and AI, but also sustainable raw materials. They conduct important research on raw materials to develop those that deliver the same results but have less impact on the environment. So, sustainability, improving performances, better care of patients and economisation are what defines these companies.
They play an important role in interacting and collaborating with local SMEs, and they help facilitate the transfer of advanced technologies, and of course, establish peer to peer partnerships, in which each one can gain. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is an important market for us. Here you can find excellent trading and manufacturing companies.
Middle East Health: The UAE and Italy share robust trade ties in healthcare. How do you plan on strengthening this?
H.E. Nicola Lener: Now that we have a trade and commercial presence here, wherein Italian pharmaceutical companies sell their products, with cooperation in the healthcare space, I think there is scope to increase our industrial cooperation for investments here. Maybe investments from pharmaceutical companies can reassure companies far away from Europe and intercede to get them closer. And here I see a big opportunity for UAE authorities in attracting these investments. We’ve seen during the pandemic that even some European investments were too far away to be deployed in the inter-European cities.
Middle East Health: Covid-19 crippled global trade, but things are looking hopeful. What is the outlook for the medical industry?
H.E. Nicola Lener: We’ve seen a bounce back. Now the main challenge is not the recovery, it’s the scarcity of materials, the bottlenecks in the supply chain, so I don’t see in the medium to long-term any major problems with the recovery of the sector which has shown immense resilience. Now what we are facing in this sector as well as the rest of the sectors are some bottlenecks, some inflationary pressures, and we all hope that this will be absorbed in the medium term. This is the main challenge for manufacturing all around the world. But I think with innovation, and maybe also some adaption in the global value chain we can cope with this challenge and overcome it.
