OIE operating on plan to promote medical equipment industry
The Office of Industrial Economics (OIE) is working on a plan to promote the medical equipment sector as one of the S-Curve industries to cope with a growing demand in the present Covid-19 situation, director Thongchai Chawalitpichaet said.
The promotional campaigns will cover investment, manufacturing, marketing and research and development of necessary medical equipment to reduce Thailand’s reliance on imports from overseas.
“The OIE recently signed a MoU with the Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, the Thai Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunications Industries Association, and the Electrical and Electronics Institute to jointly develop approaches to manufacture medical equipment using modern technology, such as CPAP [continuous positive airway pressure] machines,” he said.
“The Electrical and Electronics Institute will be responsible for safety testing and coordinate with the Food and Drug Administration to obtain the necessary permits.”
Thongchai said that in the past five years, the medical equipment industry has grown at an average 4 per cent annually.
“The Covid-19 situation is a factor that has fuelled expansion of this industry, as can be seen from the shortage of face masks and rubber gloves earlier this year,” he said.
“The partnership between medical institutes and private manufacturers will help strengthen Thailand’s capability in medical-related industries as well as revive the economy by promoting domestic manufacturing and reducing the need to import this equipment,” he added.