Pakistan has exported more than $500 million worth of medical equipment to different countries in 2021.
Pakistan and Iran discussed ways to increase cooperation on medical equipment during a webinar held on October 2, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The head of the Healthcare Devices Association of Pakistan Masood Ahmed, Consul General of the Islamic Republic Hassan Nourian, and representatives of over 30 Iranian companies active in the field of medical equipment production and supply attended the webinar.
As per the Foreign Office, Ahmed showed a willingness to use Iranian medical products, saying that the association will collaborate and support the registration of Iranian products in Pakistan and the joint production.
He said that Pakistan imported over $1.4 billion of medical equipment in 2021, whereas Turkey, China, and Italy had a huge share of the export of medical equipment products to Pakistan.
Moreover, Pakistan also exported over $500 million worth of medical equipment to different countries, which has increased by over 40 percent against 2020, Ahmed stated.
The HAD head invited Iranian companies to attend the Health Asia 2022 exhibition, which will be conducted in Karachi from October 13 to 15.
Beginning in 2004, the three-day annual occasion is the biggest annual gathering of the relevant industry stakeholders and the most important medical event in Pakistan.
In addition, Iran holds a share of one percent (about $5 billion) in the international market for medical equipment of around $500 billion, however, the country has the potential to enhance the share, the Ministry of Health revealed the statistics.
The National Medical Device Directorate in 2018, reported that the Iranian medical equipment market was worth $2.5 billion, 30 percent of which belonged to more than 1,000 domestic firms.
On a global level, 56 percent of 500,000 medical equipment items available in the world market have Iranian versions. In pharmaceuticals, almost 70 percent of Irans $4.5 billion markets are local products, while in 2018, 97 percent of pharmaceuticals consumed in the country were made locally.