The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), home to the city of Sydney, highlighted its world-class health, medtech and R&D ecosystem at an event held in the Australia Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

A Major Partner of the Australian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, NSW showcased its most prominent and innovative health, medtech and research organisations, along with prime investment opportunities that exist across medical and biotechnology research and viral vector manufacturing across NSW’s health precincts.

The event was led by the newly appointed NSW Agent General to the United Kingdom, and Senior Trade Commissioner to European Union and Israel, Mr Stephen Cartwright OAMand Mr Moin Anwar, NSW Trade and Investment Commissioner (UAE).

It was attended by government and high-ranking officials from Australia and the Middle East including His Excellency Ian Halliday, Australian Consul General to the UAE;His Excellency Dr Amin Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary of Health Regulation at the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention; His Excellency Dr Abdulkareem Al Olama, CEO of Al Jalila Foundation, and esteemed representatives from the Dubai Health Authority: His Excellency Dr Marwan Al Mulla, CEO of Health Regulation Sector; His Excellency Dr Saleh Al Hashimi, CEO of Dubai Health Insurance Corporation and His Excellency Dr Ramadan Al Blooshi, Senior Adviser to the Director General.

The event brought some of the best health and medical organisations from both Australia and the UAE to discuss how the two countries can partner on innovation, technology and meeting the future needs of healthcare.

In his address, His Excellency DrAl-Amiri stressed the importance of “collaboration in digital health and medical technologies between Australia and the UAE”.

Mr Stephen Cartwright said the showcase event was just one of many ways the government is actively engaging with global investors to grow the state’s AUD 92 billion pre-pandemic healthcare sector.

“Thanks to the NSW Government’s investment of $10.1 billion over four years for capital health infrastructure projects, the NSW medical technology industry has become the largest in Australia.”

NSW is increasingly attracting overseas investment in target sectors of medtech, biotechnology, clinical trials, gene and cell therapies and digital health, with 30 per cent of Australian pre-clinical and discovery research activity taking place in NSW.

“As UAE investors’ activity in the health and medtech industry grows, we know there is great opportunity for the UAE to invest in the growing health precincts of NSW.”

“NSW boasts more than 10 dedicated health precincts for place-based investment opportunities with world-renowned research institutes and state-of-the-art medical facilities, supported by a comprehensive health ecosystem,” Mr Cartwright said.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wollongong, Professor Patricia Davidson, spoke about the University’s long-standing relationship with the UAE, having set-up the campus of University of Wollongong in Dubai in 1993. She showcased the University’s cutting-edge innovations in 3D bioprinting through their initiative, the Translational Research Initiative for Cell Engineering and Printing (TRICEP).

NSW is home to 4 of Australia’s top 10 universities, many of whom feature in the top 100 universities in the world and is also home to 37 per cent of the Australia’s medtech companies.

“With a state-of-the-art healthcare system, top research institutions and thriving medical and pharmaceutical industries, there is no better time to show why NSW is the ideal location to develop and market new medical technologies,” Mr Cartwright said.