Growing UAE healthcare sector highlights numerous opportunities for partnership and investment for US. companies

The US-UAE healthcare relationship is thriving as UAE healthcare spending reached an estimated US$16.8 billion in 2013 alone and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 16 percent through 2014. A new report, released yesterday by the US-UAE Business Council, finds that the UAE healthcare sector has made significant strides through partnership with US companies. As outlined in the country's federal diversification plan, UAE Vision 2021, the UAE will continue to invest and partner with best-in-class companies to build a first-rate healthcare infrastructure while growing expertise and services to fulfil its citizens' needs and expectations. The report, "The UAE Healthcare Sector," analyses the comprehensive healthcare relationship between the two countries. The report found that in 2013 alone, UAE healthcare spending reached an estimated US$16.8 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 16 percent through 2014. The report also highlights specific areas of opportunity for US companies including education and training, diabetes and other chronic non-communicable diseases, information technology challenges, updating policies regarding pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and healthcare insurance improvements. "The United States and United Arab Emirates are rapidly expanding trade and commercial partnerships to meet economic diversification, foreign direct investment, and export promotion initiatives underway in both countries," said US-UAE Business Council President Danny Sebright. "The healthcare sector provides unique and dynamic opportunities for US companies and providers to support the UAE's evolving domestic healthcare infrastructure." The report provides a snapshot of all federal and Emirate-level healthcare organisations in the UAE, as well as highlighting the significant growth of hospitals and the amount of beds in each individual Emirate over the last forty years. Current US-UAE partnerships are also highlighted, including the new Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and advice for incoming US healthcare companies on best practices is provided, while illuminating the immediate gaps in the sector that require US expertise. Numerous factors are cited in the report as contributing to the growth of this bilateral healthcare relationship. Among them is the UAE's emergence as the Middle East's centre for business and commerce, a deepening US-UAE bilateral relationship, and the significant investment in and development of the UAE's health care sector. "This report provides a glimpse of the vast healthcare sector opportunities for US-UAE private and public sector stakeholders," said Sebright. "The UAE has attainable ambitions to become a medical hub for the entire Middle East North Africa region and the US is in a good position to support this goal with training and world-class ingenuity." – Emirates News Agency, WAM