Iran must be turned into Mideast hub for medical equipment

Tehran, Dec 17, IRNA – Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade termed qualitative and quantitative development of medical equipment as one of the priorities of this industry and said the country must be turned into the hub of the Middle East in the manufacture of medical equipment. Speaking at a session of the medical equipment producers association Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh added that grounds should be prepared for attraction of work force and investment in this field. He said domestic technical know-how should be supported for supplying domestic demands as well as for export. Nematzadeh noted that technical know-how and brand should be considered a tangible asset and evaluated in this regard and if necessary experts should be trained for this purpose. Meanwhile, a deputy minister reported that registration order for medical commodities which are produced inside the country is banned. Mohsen Salehi, referring to formulation of development policies in this sector mentioned that within a week with the coordination of the association a list containing items that are produced domestically will be announced in the health working group for decisions to be taken in this regard. Abbas Mah, head of the medical, dental and laboratory equipment producers association also criticized import of items which are produced domestically and called for restrictions on their import. He said 80% of the country’s demand is maintained through domestic production and for the sake of the remaining 20% permits are issue irrelevantly which deal blows on domestic products. He further remarked that the association should announce the volume of domestic products by the end of the year and the extent of demand should be specified by that time and the rate of imports should be identified. Brand making, transfer of technology with regard to products that are not available domestically, participating ambulance manufacturers in domestic tenders, allocation of budget for participation in international exhibitions, control of smuggling of medical equipment and taking domestic products into serious consideration were among other issues raised by the participants in the session./end