The Middle East is gaining attention as an emerging market for Korean medical equipment manufacturers.

Many medical device makers, including Waycen and Osstem Implant, have recently participated in Arab Health 2024, Medlab Middle East 2024, and AEEDC Dubai to promote new technologies and sign export contracts.

For instance, more than 200 Korean companies, including Waycen, VUNO, Deepnoid, and Inbody, participated in Arab Health 2024, a four-day medical device expo held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), from Jan. 29.

Arab Health, now in its 49th year, is the largest medical device exhibition in the Middle East. It has been held annually since 1976 and attracts more than 100,000 hospital officials and buyers to share and learn about the latest technology trends in the medical field. More than 3,450 companies from 180 countries participated in the exhibition.

Waycen signed a strategic sales agreement with MegaMind IT Solutions, the largest healthcare company in the Middle East based in Saudi Arabia, for medical AI solutions and healthcare products. Through this agreement, Waycen will use MegaMind's network to expand its AI gastrointestinal and colonoscopy software “WAYMED Endo” and AI respiratory self-screening service “WAYMED Cough” into the Middle East market.

The Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) also operated the Korean Medical Device Integrated Exhibition Center” at Arab Health, showcasing the products of 11 promising Korean companies -- Green Cross Medis, Join Enterprise, Sun Medix, Smart Sound, LN Robotics, NU Eyne, Remedy, Deepnoid, VPIX Medical, AutoWells, and RexSoft.

At the exhibition, the 11 companies had more than 330 consultations worth totaling $25.75 million, $3.17 million in contract promotion, and $350,000 through the signing of seven on-site contracts. In addition, 11 letters of intent (LOI), two letters of agreement (LOA), and one non-disclosure agreement (NDA) were signed on-site.

In the Medlab Middle East 2024, the world's largest diagnostic and medical device exhibition, held for the eighth time this year, Solco Biomedical, SD Biosensor, Seegene, and GC Labs participated and showcased diagnostic reagents and specimen testing services. Held from Feb. 5 to 8 in Dubai, MedLab Middle East 2024 attracted over 30,000 participants from over 900 companies from 180 countries.

In particular, Solco Biomedical’s subsidiary RM Life Science signed a contract with Saudi medical device supplier Rising Future Company during the event to supply a liquid-based cytology system (LBC) worth $1.6 million for three years.

Osstem Implant participated in the AEEDC 2024 (UAE International Dental Conference and Dental Equipment Exhibition), which was held for four days from Feb. 6. AEEDC is the largest global exhibition of dental equipment in the Middle East, Africa, and Southwest Asia region with about 3,600 exhibitors from 155 countries around the world.

At the event, Osstem Implant set up an experiential booth subdivided into unit chair zones, imaging equipment, small equipment, and implants hands-on, and prepared for users to directly operate the unit chairs K5 and K3 developed by Osstem Implant. In addition, various bone grafting materials, membranes, and collagen products, such as S1, a bone grafting solution certified by the U.S. FDA, were presented.

Last December, Osstem Implant signed an MOU with the National Industrial Development Center under the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources in Saudi Arabia to build a dental medical equipment production facility and distribution infrastructure.

Many Korean domestic medical device companies are actively entering the Middle East market because the regional medical device market has high growth potential, industry sources said.

According to the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), the UAE's medical device market is expected to grow from $1.03 billion in 2022 to $1.37 billion in 2026. In 2016, the Dubai government announced the Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030, which aims to transform the emirate into a global manufacturing platform, and picked pharmaceuticals and medical devices as one of the six priority manufacturing sectors.

"As I feel it, the participants in Arab Health were more enthusiastic than in MEDICA. We have already started to survey the demand for booths for next year," said an industry insider who participated in Arab Health. "There is a great need for medical AI and healthcare infrastructure in the Middle East."

The business executive noted that "money flows into the Middle East, and many contracts are signed on site, adding that the number of Korean companies participating in Arab Health is increasing yearly.

“I can feel that the technology of Korean companies is being recognized here," he added.