Waving the British Flag for Innovation in India
Last week I had the pleasure of coordinating the ABHI HealthTech mission to India, and the first ever UK Pavilion at Medical Fair India.
Taking place in two of India’s most dynamic cities, Bengaluru and Mumbai, the aim of the mission was to help UK companies establish themselves, and for the more experienced companies, increase their footprint within the Indian market.
Working with the Department of International Trade, we put together a dynamic programme to include hospital visits and networking receptions. Everything was aimed at providing companies with as much access as possible to hospital contacts and distributor partners across India.
One of the highlights for many companies was the roundtable discussion with the Deputy High Commissioner of Bengaluru at his residence. This was a great opportunity to gain industry knowledge and find out more about the challenges and rewards of doing business in India. We also enjoyed meetings with management representatives from two leading hospitals from the area, Columbia Asia Hospital and Sakra World Hospital.
Overall, the mission allowed companies to meet potential distributors and have face-to-face contact to discuss their needs. Some have already received interest in their products from Indian companies, which is really encouraging.
After a busy few days we then headed to Mumbai, where the group heard from PWC on the regulatory landscape in India. This was extremely helpful, especially for those companies who had not yet started the registration process.
We then set up shop on the first UK Pavilion at Medical Fair India. Over the years, there has been a huge boom in visitors and the exhibition has marked out its position as the leading medical trade fair for the Indian market.
India is expected to rank amongst the world’s top three healthcare markets for incremental growth by 2020. In 2015, its healthcare sector became the country’s fifth largest employer with close to five million people and is one of its fastest growing industries. Its growth rate is expected increase by 87% during 2015-20, equating to USD$280 billion by 2020.
There is immense scope for enhancing healthcare services in India and huge potential for British-designed and manufactured technologies. If you are interested in doing business in the country and would like to find out more, please contact me.