Saudi Arabia entering the Gulf's single largest healthcare market

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Already the largest market in the gulf for medical equipment and healthcare products, Saudi Arabia's burgeoning population, forecast to rise from the present 26 million to 47 million by 2020, and its citizens increasing affluence, which is expected to exacerbate related illnesses such as obesity, diabetes etc, will help to maintain a steady continual growth and tremendous new potential in the future in all sectors of healthcare.

Each year leading Saudi and international companies choose to exhibit at the annual Saudi Healthcare And Saudi Hospital (SHASH) exhibition to display and promote their products and services to the largest and broadest profile of visiting professionals within this exciting market.

The 15th edition of SHASH, 5th to 8th May 2008, will once again be held in the prime location of Jeddah, the commercial centre of the Kingdom, and encompass every aspect of the health industry, including: medical, insurance, dental, pharmaceutical, labware and hospital infrastructure & supplies.

Running concurrently with the exhibition will be a series of high profile symposia that each year attracts leading speakers from both within the Kingdom and abroad covering topical subjects particularly pertinent to the Saudi Arabia.

The last edition of SHASH was held under the patronage of the Saudi Ministry of Health and organised by Al Harithy Company for Exhibitions, attracting exhibitors from around the globe and visitors from throughout Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Gulf States, closed its doors to great acclaim by both exhibitors and visitors.

The visiting audience of professionals, including: importers, agents, distributors, surgeons, specialists, doctors, paramedics, nurses and also hospital owners and administrators, as well as professionals and company executives from the pharmaceutical industry, were delighted with the range of goods and services on display on over 200 stands.

Exhibitors, comprising of national groups from Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Poland and Turkey, together with individual company participation from China, Germany, India, Ireland Italy, Korea, Lebanon, Taiwan and the USA, provided a truly international flavour alongside the leading Saudi participants.

A symposium on 'Healthcare Problems in Children 'Role of Community & Family' ', organized by King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, under license by the Saudi Council for Health Specialties, entitling delegates to credit hours, was held alongside the exhibition with each session heavily oversubscribed.

Levels of business conducted were extremely high, with many millions of dollars of deals concluded and exhibitors reported trading as either very good or excellent.

General Project (GP), Italy's leading designer and manufacturer of medical equipment, chose SHASH as their first venture into the Saudi market. Tibor Laczhazy, Managing Commercial Director, was very happy as their firm were able to establish 'solid Saudi contacts during the four days of exhibition' adding 'our Saudi Arabian experience has been very good. We have discovered the huge market potential here and Italian products are in great demand'.

Waldemar Posmyk, Managing director of Paramedica Polska, part of the Polish National Pavilion was the happiest participant in the entire show as the company was about to sign two huge partnership projects with Saudi Arabian Airlines and the Batterji Group: 'This is our first time participation in a Saudi trade event and we realize that there is a huge market where we can place our products very easily'.

The majority of exhibitors from China, already established in the Kingdom, used their participation to revive contacts. 'Our companies have done good business because we are not new to the Saudi market,' said Frank Lee, the Chinese group leader, adding that 'participation at SHASH is an important part of developing a long-term marketing strategy for the Kingdom'. This importance of the exhibition within the Saudi market was also endorsed by Richard Chao of Taiwan's Huntex Corporation, 'We have been in the Saudi Arabian market since the last 25 years. We participate in SHASH just to support our Saudi customers and demonstrate new products'.

This change, from a healthcare market overwhelmingly dominated by the Government to one that is actively encouraging the private sector, is reflected in both the visitor and exhibitor profiles at Saudi Healthcare And Saudi Hospital.

The unique combination of Healthcare and Hospital benefits exhibitors and visitors alike, creating an all encompassing marketplace whilst at the same time maintaining their individual identities and sector focus as well as satisfying the demands of both the state and private sectors.

Superbly located in Jeddah, the focal point of the Western Region and an area that accounts for over 50% of the Saudi population, the exhibition provides an unrivalled showcase to the leading healthcare professionals within this wealthy and lucrative market.