After the successful launch of the first edition of the Best Healthcare Brands in India in 2016, The Economic Times announced the Asian edition of the book in Dubai, UAE. It was at the recently concluded Economic Times India-UAE Strategic Conclave held at Westin Dubai that insightful discussions on the opportunities and challenges for Asian healthcare brands came to light.

The Economic Times Best Asian Healthcare Brands 2017 was unveiled by H.E. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE’s Cabinet Member and Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development. The initiative was based on an extensive survey conducted with their Knowledge Partner, Mena Research Partners, and shortlisted top brands under various segments of healthcare after considering several parameters. These brands were eventually felicitated and featured in the coffee table book which was launched at this summit. During the summit, The Economic Times unraveled the DNA of success of these brands, and what makes these brands worthy of emulation in the healthcare Industry.

The Asian healthcare market is expected to grow from $1835 billion in 2016 to over $2660 billion by 2020. This is mainly due to improved access to healthcare facilities amid increased government and private investments in addition to government initiatives that promote medical insurance and foreign investment. Cumulatively, this has seen a rise in the demand for healthcare services and pharmaceutical products.

Commenting on the significance of the summit, Deepak Lamba, President, Times Strategic Solutions, said, “The huge population, large economy, and advances in technology make Asia an attractive market for healthcare services. We are excited to explore the dynamic Healthcare sector and analyse its strengths and the challenges on its way.”

Talking about the opportunities for collaboration in the Healthcare Sector between India and UAE, Dr. Naresh Trehan, Chairman and Managing Director of Medanta, highlighted the advances in healthcare services offered to consumer, also underscoring the growth of medical tourism in India by stating that 15% of his patients hail from overseas at any given time.

Padmashri Dr. B R Shetty, Founder & Vice Chairman, NMC Healthcare delivered the special address and said, “India is one of the largest capital markets and is very lucrative for investments. We are planning to open up medical universities and hospitals in the urban, rural and tribal areas of the country. We are starting with institutions for Medical, Ayurveda, Siddha and Yuana in Amravati, Delhi, Noida and Varanasi. We are also opening up an American university here in UAE.” Dr. Shetty also encouraged the delegates to invest in UAE.

Some eye-opening statics on Nutrition and Healthcare in Asia were shared by Mr. Anshu Budhraj, CEO, Amway India, who elaborated on the benefits of a smart healthcare approach. Highlighting that UAE stood at 84 but India came in at 143 on the UN’s Sustainable Healthcare Index, he said, “These statistics raise many questions as we are a nation that is achieving 8-9 percent growth rate every year. Clearly, economic growth and healthcare index may or may not go together. There have to be specific policies, specific investments, and focused approach for this sector to grow. If we increase the life expectancy of one person by 10 percent it would lead to an economic growth of 0.5 percent. That’s how healthcare impacts the economic prosperity of a country”.

The Asian healthcare brands were felicitated by H.E. Abdullah Al Darmaki, CEO, Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development; H.E Navdeep Singh Suri, Indian High Commissioner to UAE; Suhail Muhammad Ansari, Executive Director, Mubadala Healthcare and H.E Saif Jamal Al Jarwan, Secretary General, UAE International Investors Council in a gala ceremony. Those recognized for their excellence included:

1. Advance Cells
2. Akums Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
3. Amarantha Ayurveda
4. Asian Institute of Medical Sciences
5. AyurVAID Hospitals
6. Beximco Pharma
7. BigMuscles Nutrition
8. Burjeel Hospital (Abu Dhabi)
9. CIMS Hospital
10. Cipla
11. CryoViva Biotech
12. Dentzz
13. Diagno Labs
14. Dr. Batra’s Healthcare
15. Dr. Reddy’s
16. Dr. Tvacha
17. Dynamic Techno Medicals
18. Envision Scientific
19. Eris Lifesciences
20. FineCure Pharmaceuticals
21. Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
22. Health Assure
23. Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital (Hong Kong)
24. Hoya Surgical Optics
25. Johnson & Johnson
26. Kayam Churna – Sheth Brothers
27. Kovai Medical Center and Hospital
28. Mitra Keluarga Hospital (Indonesia)
29. Mount Elizabeth Hospitals (Singapore)
30. Narayana Health
31. Natural Remedies
32. NMC Healthcare (Dubai)
33. Nobel Biocare
34. Nutrilite
35. Oasis Centre for Reproductive Medicine
36. OPTM Healthcare
37. Parvathy Hospital
38. Sahajanand Medical Technologies
39. Sahyadri Hospitals
40. Singapore General Hospital (Singapore)
41. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital
42. St. Lukes Medical Center (Philippines)
43. Sun Pharmaceutical
44. The Birth Place
45. The University of Tokyo Hospital (Japan)
46. Translumina Therapeutics LLP
47. Trichur Surgicals (Trisco)
48. Vital Imaging Centre

It is only by understanding what makes the finest Asian healthcare brands tick that we can lay down a blueprint for others to emulate and in the process make the world that bit better a place to live in.