PORTAL OF KNOWLEDGE AND SOLUTIONS
An indispensable forum for knowledge-sharing, community events and advocacy services between the UAE and the United States
The American Business Council is an interactive partner and a great facilitator in the healthcare sector, especially, and has been closely working with the United Arab Emirates’ authorities in broadening its reach. Popularly known as AmCham, it has extensive business leverages in the region, working for bilateral trade and investment, cooperation and partnership.
As the UAE’s pharmaceutical sector and local industrial capability continues to expand and grow; Bilal Sabouni, Chief Executive Officer at the American Business Council in Dubai, articulately outlined its healthcare initiatives. Tell us about the role of American Business Council in Dubai and how it furthers bilateral economic interaction. The American Business Council in Dubai plays an important role in representing and advocating on behalf of the business community in partnership with public and private sector leaders and other stakeholders from the U.S., the Middle East, and internationally. Our mission as a local AmCham is to strengthen commercial ties between the U.S. and the UAE, and provide the highest level of private-sector corporate support services to our members, whether they are large fortune 500 companies, SMEs, or individual professionals from any sector of business and industry.
We offer knowledge-sharing platforms, community events, advocacy services, networking opportunities, business-critical access to senior private sector leaders, public sector officials, and much more. The Council has stakes in the pharmaceutical/healthcare industry. What volume of business and cooperation do you foresee in years to come? The UAE’s pharmaceutical sector and local industrial capability continues to expand and grow. The UAE certainly still relies on imports from external markets and foreign multinational companies to serve its local needs, but increasingly, strategies and partnerships have been developed to increase in-country production capability to serve domestic demand at lower cost points.
The American Business Council in Dubai has established a long list of initiatives within the wider healthcare space, including organising key events like our annual Arab Health Kickoff Breakfast ahead of the Arab Health Conference and Exhibition, facilitating high-level meetings and roundtables with senior government leaders, as well as establishing committees and private sector task forces to come up with actionable solutions and recommendations to tackle challenges to business as they arise.
The UAE Government spending on healthcare topped $16 billion in 2016, and forecasts show spending to continue to increase, exceeding $20 billion in 2020 and touching nearly $28 billion in 2025. With the active support of the American Business Council in Dubai and the significant strides taken by U.S. industry in the region, we expect to take advantage of the sizable commercial opportunities afforded in the UAE. Are there any major initiatives utilising the resources/expertise of your members in the UAE? We continuously work with our corporate members to leverage on each organisation’s strengths and capabilities to increase and enhance the U.S.’ industry participation and competitiveness. This partnership approach has proven to be very successful as we look to accomplish our mission of promoting and supporting our members’ business interests across the region and working to strengthen the positive U.S.-UAE relationship based on bilateral trade and investment, cooperation and partnership.
Whether it is working with a marketleader like Pfizer in developing white papers and sector reports, highlighting some of the wonderful success stories stemming from the American Hospital Dubai’s collaboration with Mayo Clinic, or inviting a subject matter experts from the likes of Aetna or Medtronic to speak at conferences, the American Business Council in Dubai takes great pride in our members’ contributions, achievements and milestones. What is the largest opportunity from within the sector? The largest opportunity presented to the sector also happens to be the largest challenge: people and the growing number of people in the UAE.
The UAE’s current population stands at over nine million. Organic growth continues at a very rapid pace and the UAE’s ever-increasing drive for tourism, whether medical or recreational, continues to raise demand in the health sector. The UAE Government continues to strive towards staying ahead of technology, innovation, and expertise in order to absorb this demand, but scalability of critical infrastructure and basic services, as well as maintaining competitive edge via technology and innovation continues to drive UAE government spending and investment.
The UAE Government spending on healthcare topped $16 billion in 2016, and forecasts show spending to continue to increase, exceeding $20 billion in 2020 and touching nearly $28 billion in 2025.