USD40 million worth of deals signed at Arab Health 2005

The unique format of the event, that combines an exhibition with cutting edge education in the form of specialist conferences, attracted more than 2000 exhibitors, 28 country pavilions and over 30,000 visitors this year. These figures underline the fact that Arab Health is the business destination of choice for the high-growth healthcare industry in the Middle East, the size of which is estimated to be over US$74 billion.

The Arab Health 2005 exhibition and conferences have exceeded all expectations of the organisers. John Hassett, Exhibition Director, said: "Exhibitors at Arab Health derive value in more ways than just through securing business deals. They can network with key medical professionals, thought leaders and physicians that attend our parallel conferences, utilise it as a launch platform for new products and services and showcase new development efforts."

Commenting on their aspirations to be the world's leading healthcare exhibition and conference, John Hassett said, "We have witnessed unprecedented growth since 2001 when we occupied 8,000 square metres of space, hosted four healthcare conferences and had a few thousand visitors. Today we occupy 24,000 square metres, host 14 leading healthcare conferences and are still growing at 25 per cent year on year."

"In addition, our key sponsors have continued to strengthen their commitment every year. Advance bookings for the 2006 event have already poured in and we are confident of maintaining our growth rate," he added.

One of the reasons for increased interest in Arab Health has been the success of conferences that run parallel to the exhibition. This year over 900 delegates attended the Medical Laboratory sessions and over 1000 attended the diabetes conference hosted by the Gulf Group for the Study of Diabetes.

All 14 specialist conferences this year were addressed by world class experts in their respective fields from otolaryngology to oncology to dentistry. The conferences offer accreditation in the form credits from the American Academy of Continuing Medical Education (CME) which help attendees maintain their annual quota of CME credits.