TEHRAN – The 12th exhibition of Iranian-made laboratory equipment and materials named ‘IRAN LAB EXPO’ is scheduled to be held in Tehran from December 13 to 16.

Supported by the Vice-Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy, the international exhibition will feature 10,085 innovative products, IRNA reported.

A total of 278 knowledge-based companies will present their latest achievements, laboratory equipment, and advanced testing. The exhibition will mainly focus on advanced testing to expand the domestic and international markets for the companies.

The 12th exhibition will display Iranian-made products in different fields including ‘Oil, gas, and petrochemicals’, ‘Electricity’, ‘Electronics’, ‘Software and Simulation’, ‘Mechanics’, ‘Chemistry and Metallurgy’, ‘Agriculture and Environment’, ‘Basic Physics’, ‘General laboratory equipment’, ‘Equipment and Machinery in strategic technologies’, ‘Medical Engineering and Biomaterials’, ‘Laboratory materials’, ‘Educational equipment’, ‘Industrial test equipment’, and ‘Calibration and construction services’.

The exhibition will also serve as a platform for knowledge-based companies to hold B2B meetings, share knowledge, create business opportunities, and get familiar with other companies’ capacities, as well as potential markets. 

Some 90 percent of medical equipment used in hospitals is domestically manufactured. However, three devices with complicated technology are imported, ISNA reported.

On May 12, Ahmad Moslemi, a health ministry official, said with over 50 percent of medical devices being domestically manufactured, Iran holds the first place in West Asia for producing medical equipment both in terms of quantity and diversity, Iranian-made medical devices worth around $50 million are exported to 40 countries annually, IRNA quoted  Moslemi as saying.

Over the past five years, the number of manufacturing companies has increased fivefold with some 2,000 companies operating now, he noted.

Moreover,  the official said, the number of products has increased fourfold. Equipment such as implants as well as advanced medical devices are manufactured in the country as well.

In addition, the country’s medical centers have been equipped with some 15,000 new hospital beds have been added to with 90 percent of the equipment produced locally, Moslemi added.

Rise in medical exports

More than 70 percent of medical equipment and 100 percent of normal hospital beds are domestically made, Abdolreza Yaqoubzadeh, the head of Iran’s Union of Medical Equipment Manufacturers and Exporters, said in January.

Also, over 95 percent of specific ICU and CCU beds and more than 85 percent of operating room medical equipment such as anesthesia machines and other equipment are manufactured with cutting-edge technology in the country, IRNA quoted Yaqoubzadeh as saying.

He went on to say that the country’s need for medical equipment production is three to four billion dollars per year, some one billion dollars of which is imported.

Iran experienced a significant rise in exports of medicine and medical equipment in the first four months of the past Iranian calendar year that ended on March 19.

“Exports of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment grew by 300 percent in the first four months of the year,” IRNA quoted Heidar Mohammadi, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, as saying. 

Currently, the production of medicine, medical equipment, and powdered milk is supported by subsidies. So, their exports were very limited, but it is hoped that their exports will increase next year, he explained.

MT/MG