Al Zahrawi Medical plans to expand its base in Gulf market by entering Oman and Bahrain as the demand for healthcare services is on the rise its top official says.

The leading provider of surgical medical lab nuclear medicine and radiotherapy solutions in the UAE and Qatar will launch its operations in Oman and Bahrain in second quarter of this year.

"The company is currently in the final stages of the agreement with the Omani authorities and local partners and is aiming to launch its operations there in late second quarter of 2016" Dr Ahmad Emara chief executive and managing director of Al Zahrawi Medical told Khaleej Times.

"The same situation applies for Bahrain where we have already finalised the agreement with the concerned authorities. We are aiming to be in full operation simultaneously with the Omani operations also in April-June 2016 quarter" he said adding that Saudi market is not part of the immediate expansion plans of the company.

Al Zahrawi Medical represents more than 70 international manufacturers in the healthcare field. Its customers include hospitals diagnostic and clinical labs clinics universities research centres and much more depend on the accurate and timely delivery of quality healthcare supplies.

The company reported a Dh226 million turnover in 2015 and is expecting to achieve an even higher number in 2016 especially with its expansion plans in the Bahraini and the Omani markets.

"2016 is set to be a particularly busy year for Al Zahrawi Medical as we aim to continue our growth in the markets we operate in and expand into the Bahraini and the Omani markets" Dr Emara said.

About Al Zahrawi's current operations he said it operates in all the Emirates and has one office in Dubai and another in Abu Dhabi in addition to an office in Qatar.

"The new distribution centre which was inaugurated recently at the cost of Dh881400 will serve the UAE and other GCC countries. With the launch of this centre the company would be doubling its distribution space capacity which now amounts up to 7000 square feet floor area" he said.

The facility which is located close proximity to Dubai Airport offers over 160 pallet spaces and is equipped with state-of-the-art supply chain system.

Dubai medical tourism hub

The company said its expansion comes in line with the Dubai 2020 vision and to help build a strong medical infrastructure to support the forthcoming healthcare boom Dubai is expecting.

"The vision Dubai has set for itself to become a regional hub for medical tourism and welcome half a million medical tourists by 2020 combined with the yet-to-be-built 20 new hospitals in Dubai which were announced by DHA create a gap in the Dubai healthcare infrastructure" Dr Emara said.

Over the past couple of years he said the number of patients coming from abroad to seek medical treatment in the UAE has been on the rise. The number is expected to rise even further to reach half a million medical tourists per annum in 2020 he said.

Elaborating some key factors that will help Dubai reach this number he said most of the patients seeking quality healthcare come from neighbouring states and East Asian countries as hospitals in the UAE are relatively newer and more modern than those in their native countries. Other patients are coming from European countries as the regulations in the Dubai healthcare system are very strict something which ensures higher quality of medical care.

Another aspect which will help Dubai reach this high number is that people will make use of the medical visa option launched by Dubai a few months back.

"While the field is showing promising outlook the current infrastructure of the health system is still not solid enough to absorb that high number of medical tourists. However this is something that we at Al Zahrawi Medical were able to foresee and therefore launched our new distribution centre which comes to ensure Dubai is ready for what is yet to come and create a sustainable foundation for this growth" Dr Emara concluded.

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