COVID-19 will mark an era of a paradigm shift in the realm of diplomacy with healthcare medical diplomacy taking the centre stage: Ambassador of India to UAE

Oct 19, 2020

NEW DELHI, 19 October 2020: 'UAE-India Healthcare Conference 2020', was organised jointly by Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi and Consulate General of India, Dubai, FICCI and Invest India, today to explore ways and means for promoting collaboration and partnerships in the fields of healthcare, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and alternative medicines.

 

HE Pavan Kapoor, Ambassador of India to UAE drew attention towards close collaboration between the two countries during COVID times, and stated that the UAE side had shown strong desire for setting up manufacturing facilities for vaccines and generic medicines by Indian companies having strong R&D facilities. "The UAE government will provide incentives, including financial contributions and will also make efforts to create a full ecosystem to support such healthcare manufacturing companies from India," said Ambassador Kapoor. He urged Indian companies to look into this offer, which will provide them an excellent opportunity to enter into GCC as well as African markets in entire pharma supply chain ecosystem.

 

Ambassador Kapoor also emphasized that there were huge opportunities for the UAE to invest in India where seven mega parks- three in the pharmaceutical sector and four in medical devices have recently been announced. "Ayushman Bharat Yojana requires a lot of infrastructure and the same can be complemented by UAE side. The introduction of AYUSH system of traditional Indian medicine can also be used to complement the health system in the UAE," he added. 

 

HE Humaid Al Qutami, Director General of Dubai Health Authority said, "UAE and India share a deep-rooted, historic partnership and there are several areas in the health sector where both sides can explore collaboration and continue this partnership with an aim to benefit the people of both the countries and provide high-quality and efficient patient care." He also highlighted areas such as innovation, research and development, medical education, and training as well as telehealth, where there is a strong potential for further collaboration. He added that this conference would be the right forum to establish a channel to achieve the common goals for the healthcare sectors of both countries. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration between both the countries, he said.

 

HE Dr Ahmed Albanna, Ambassador of UAE to India, said that COVID-19 has altered the dynamics of our global economic ecosystems. "COVID-19 will mark an era of a paradigm shift in the realm of diplomacy with healthcare medical diplomacy taking the centre stage," Ambassador Dr Albanna said. In the wake of the pandemic, the new dimension of medical diplomacy has indeed further bolstered the strategic partnership between the two nations. There is a huge untapped potential in the healthcare sectors between the two countries, he added.

 

Dr Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI, said that at no other time in the world has healthcare become as center stage as it is today. "This is an important meeting of people with shared ideologies to innovate, collaborate and to find new solutions, she said.

 

HE Abdulla Ali Al Mahyan, Chairman, Sharjah Health Authority, and HE Dr Amin Hussain Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary of Health Policy & Licensing, MoHAP, Abu Dhabi stressed on the historic and strategic relationship that exists between both the nations. "We have great cooperation with India, and we look forward to supporting any Indian pharma or medical industry to invest with us," HE Dr Amiri said. He also provided several facts about Indian healthcare workers and UAE as well as pharma and medical tourism, going forward.

 

Dr Praveen Gedam, Addl. CEO of National Health Authority highlighted the transformation currently underway in India as the Ayushman Bharat Programme is being delivered. This programme will eventually benefit more than 500 million people and create huge opportunities for investment by UAE and other international investors in the healthcare sector. National Digital Health Mission of India also has several synergies and complementarities with UAE for partnership.

 

Dr Aman Puri, Consul General of India, said, "This conference becomes all the more relevant as key stakeholders from UAE and India healthcare landscapes join together to deliberate on exploring new avenues for partnership between the two countries."

 

Dr Abdul Salam Al Madani, Executive Chairman, Waterfalls, UAE said that there is a need to further strengthen business relations with India. He outlined the importance of Waterfall Project which is aimed at creating trained manpower pool to cater to the growing need in the healthcare sector, and this is the area where India and UAE could work together.

 

Dr Azad Moopen, Chairman & MD, Aster DM Healthcare; Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, Chairman & MD, VPS Healthcare Group; Mr Girish Krishnamurty, CEO & Director- Tata Medical and Diagnostics, Tata MD; Dr Akbar Moideen, VP Thumbay Group; Dr Viren Shetty from Narayana Hrudayalaya; Ms Sophiya Faizal, Director, KEF Holdings (Meitra Hospital), Dr Taher Shams, MD, Zulekha India, made presentations on opportunities in healthcare in the UAE and India.

 

The conference also had three separate sessions focusing on UAE India Partnership in Healthcare Delivery, Pharma & Medical Devices and Ayush in which renowned doctors, entrepreneurs and regulatory authorities made their presentation and discussed ways and means to further boost bilateral cooperation in the respective fields. 

 

As regards Pharma and medical devices, all panelists including HE Marwan Abdul Aziz, MD, Dubai Science Park, Dr Uday Bhaskar, DG, Pharmexcil and others recognised the fact that India has a great edge in the manufacturing capabilities of such products and both countries could benefit with each other�s experience and expertise. Dr J K Sharma, MD, AMTZ, Andhra Pradesh stressed upon the opportunities for UAE investors as AMTZ is the leading global hub and provides an excellent ecosystem for R&D in medical devices and biotechnology.

 

The session on AYUSH discussed various ways and means to make alternate medicine popular in the Gulf, and especially in UAE, Mr Anurag Sharma, MP and Chair, FICCI AYUSH Committee emphasised on the importance of centuries old traditions of alternative medicines which have proved effective in various lifestyle disorders. Panelists also recommended to use excellent tourism infrastructure of UAE to be used as wellness and ayurveda based resort systems, which could further popularise Ayurveda in the country. Dr Hamad Al Mezemi from the Sharjah Healthcare City made a presentation about opportunities in SHCC in this regard. 

 

The Conference concluded with vote of thanks by Consul General Dr Aman Puri who acknowledged the contribution of all participants, policy makers, senior dignitaries both from UAE & India and especially thanked FICCI & Invest India, to make this conference a grand success.