'Made in the GCC' new label for medical equipment

According to Peggy Farley, president and CEO of Ascent Capital Management, start-up product lines will be operational early next year and will include guide wire products and surgical kits. Farley indicated that local medical practitioners will also be able to get involved with product invention and development.

She said that in order to keep profit margins high, contract manufacturers have historically located in areas that have offered highly skilled but low wage labour.

"For the past fifteen years much of this geographic outsourcing has been placed in Ireland, however, with the decrease in the strength of the dollar and the increase in labour costs, Ireland has now become more expensive than the US.

"Throughout the US and Europe there are hundreds of contract medical device manufacturing facilities that conduct innovative proprietary medical device development and manufacturing for small private medical device companies, as well as large scale manufacturing for component products for large medical device companies," she shared.

"These companies also work with start ups to create prototypes, engineering and manufacturing processes."

Farley said that Oman's ability to deliver cutting-edge technology, international sea and air links, plus its relatively low labour costs, make it the ideal location for the Middle East's first dedicated medical device manufacturing unit.

"Our Omani joint venture will greatly reduce the cost of goods currently manufactured in Ireland, thus improving profit, which will benefit both large and small medical device manufacturers," she added.

From the Salalah facility, [the] finished products will then be shipped directly back to the customer for distribution or to international distribution centres.

"Products manufactured at this facility can also be labelled 'manufactured in the GCC'. These products can then be shipped to local distributors for sale in the MENA region," Farley said.

The joint venture will also encourage local physicians and engineers to bring their product ideas to this regional facility and work with the company's design team to develop their ideas locally instead of sending them abroad.

Albert Emola has been named CEO for the joint venture, and will bring to the development a vast experience with major cardiovascular companies as well as heading up start ups. He will oversee the transfer of technology to Oman and the development and marketing of the joint venture's products.

Farley also said that the joint venture company could apply for an initial public offering (IPO) within three years.