DUBAI - The Italian Trade Agency (ITA), the Governmental Agency that promotes Italian products and services, has announced that it supports 160 Italian companies exhibiting at Arab Health 2023.

Arab Health is an annual event that brings together thousands of healthcare professionals and companies worldwide to showcase the latest products and services in the healthcare industry. This year's edition is progressing in Dubai, from 30th January to 2nd February and features a wide range of healthcare products and services, including new technologies and innovations such as artificial intelligence.

Spread across 4 different halls, the Italian Pavillion offers an overview of the Italian manufacturing capabilities in the healthcare sector.

The pharmaceutical sector comprises 285 companies, employing 67,000 people, and it has the highest number of SMEsoperating in Europe and the highest share of innovative companies (about 90 percent) compared to other healthcare sectors.

The Italian pharmaceutical industry is particularly strong in the biotech drugs and vaccines for which Italy is an international R&D and production hub.

Lorenzo Fanara, Ambassador of Italy to the UAE, said, “We believe in the vision of the UAE, and we want to consolidate our business ties, not only by growing our market share, but also making long-term investments and developing industrial partnerships. Arab Health is an incredible platform for Italian companies operating in the healthcare sector to learn how to approach the Middle East market, to create new partnership and expand existing ones.”

For his part, Amedeo Scarpa, Italian Trade Commissioner to the UAE, said, “Italy is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and biomedical products, and is considered a European hub for R&D, products development and technology. More than 85 percent of the production is allocated to the foreign markets, with the UAE being one of our best partners by requesting a yearly average of 70 million Euros.

Under the motto ‘Sustainability is Sustainab-ITALY’, circular economy and sustainability are going to be the focus at Arab Health 2023. In 10 years, the pharmaceutical industry in Italy has reduced energy consumption by 44 percent.