Next month’s Medical Fair to bring together key stakeholders from medical, healthcare sectors
The ninth edition of Medical Fair Thailand, scheduled to be held from September 11 to 13 at new venue BITEC, expects to welcome more trade visitors and exhibitors than ever before.
More than 12,000 trade visitors are expected to attend the exhibition, with more than 40 per cent of them coming from overseas.
The three-day expo will showcase 1,000 exhibitors from 60 countries – 20 per cent more than the last exhibition in 2017. On offer will be a comprehensive range of medical and healthcare innovations, spanning state-of-the-art imaging and diagnostic equipment, patient monitoring systems, cost-effective consumables, digital healthcare solutions and more.
This year’s fair will also see the widest representation of national pavilions and country groups, including newcomers Brazil, Denmark, Indonesia, Israel and Hong Kong.
On the domestic front, there’s been a notable jump of 60 per cent in Thai exhibitors, reflecting the importance of fairs being a strategic platform for Thai companies to meet quality buyers and relevant partners on an international scale.
“Established in 2003, Medical Fair Thailand is the country’s largest international medical exhibition and is the only event of its calibre, with experience, connections and infrastructure to enable medical and healthcare companies to springboard into Asia and Southeast Asian,” said Gernot Ringling, managing director of the fair organiser, Messe Düsseldorf Asia.
Thailand 4.0 and the medical sector
Thailand 4.0 is a 20-year economic roadmap that the government unveiled in May 2016 as part of an effort to transform the economy into one that is driven by science, technology and innovation. Three years in, Thailand is making good progress as it deepens its focus on four key pillars identified in the strategy – wellness, medical services, academics and health products, with the government now providing additional technology-based incentives for investment in the development of biotechnology, nanotechnology, advanced material technology, and digital technology and enabling services that support targeted technology development.
“International exhibitions such as Medical Fair Thailand play a vital role in contributing to the growth and development of Thailand’s MICE [meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions] industry as well as target industries stipulated by Thailand’s 4.0 policy, which include the medical sector. The growth of the private medical sector in Thailand is being driven by the growth in medical tourism and increasing demands from Thailand’s growing middle-class.
“Thailand’s middle-class incomes are rising and so is spending on healthcare as people are becoming more concerned about their health due to increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases and work stress. With these factors, the Medical Fair Thailand could not take place at a more opportune time,” said Kanokporn Damrongkul, director of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau’s exhibition department.
