The Outlook for Medical Devices in South East Asia

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Feb 13, 2013, 02:23 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

The Outlook for Medical Devices in South East Asia

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0192649/The-Outlook-for-Medical-Devices-in-South-East-Asia.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Managed_care

8 Key Markets Covered!

Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Singapore South Korea Taiwan Thailand Vietnam

Import dependent and still maintaining good growth levels, the markets of SE Asia offer enterprising companies good opportunities. However, they must meet the challenges of widely differing operating environments.

Why invest in South East Asia?Like all other sectors, the medical device markets in South East Asia have been impacted by the downturn of the world economy. Most of these countries, which rely heavily on exports as a significant portion of their respective GDP - South Korea and Singapore being prime examples - saw cuts in demand for manufactured goods and most have seen dips in overall GDP for 2009. Economic conditions have however started to gradually improve, and GDP growth has been positive in 2010 and is projected to continue in 2011.

The economy aside, what factors are affecting medical device growth?

Fundamentally, the eight countries covered in this collection share a similar characteristic. These medical device markets have, on average, been growing at more attractive rates compared to the more developed, mature medical device markets in Western Europe, for example.

Broadly speaking, the high growth rates for this region have been spearheaded by a number of similar and distinct factors. All countries in this report collection have experienced strong medical devices import growth and steadily rising health expenditure. Medical devices imports, as we have seen in the last economic crisis in 1997, could possibly be affected in the short term, but like before, these countries are expected to bounce back.

The demand for medical devices prior to the current downturn was largely driven by the expansion of the respective healthcare sectors in the region, and Government budget cuts for capital infrastructure may temper growth in the short term. But healthcare development and provision is an increasing political and social priority for nearly all these countries, even the poorer ones like Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines and the prospects for medical devices remains strong.

Other factors driving or impeding the market's growth rate are also taken into account. For example, government cost containment strategies and tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade for medical devices. New dynamics are also affecting the market, such as Vietnam's expansion of health insurance to all citizens by 2014 or the opening up of the notoriously difficult but lucrative South Korean market via Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with the USA and the EU.

Complete analysis to keep you informed

Now you can easily evaluate these markets with The Outlook for Medical Devices in South East Asia to 2016. Each report provides individual and highly-detailed analysis of the market, looking at the key regulatory, political, economic and corporate developments in the wider context of market structure, service and access.MALAYSIAMalaysia's medical devices and supplies are mainly imported, especially the more technologically advanced items. Espicom estimates current growth in the market to be a strong 9.1% per year, reaching US$1.9 billion, or US$61 per capita, by 2016.Malaysia's major natural resource is rubber, and the country's medical device exports are dominated by latex products such as surgical gloves and catheters, which together accounted for 59.1% of the export total in 2009. The share of these two sub-categories has slowly started to diminish with the steady growth of diagnostic imaging exports in recent years, particularly electrocardiographs and other electrodiagnostic apparatus. The Malaysian government has attempted in recent years to encourage domestic manufacturers to expand production into more technologically advanced products and develop services such as Information and Communications Technology and other support related services. This has been detailed in the Third Industrial Master Plan 2006-2020.

SOUTH KOREA

South Korea ranks as one of the world's leading economies, with a population approaching 50 million and overall GDP listed among the top 15 in the world. As a result, much of the population expects a high level of medical care. South Korea has the highest healthcare expenditure of all the 'Asian Tigers', with an estimated 55% funded by the public sector. The government has been forced to implement cost-cutting measures in recent years, owing to a large deficit faced by the healthcare system. Healthcare costs continue to rise, with the country's rapidly aging population adding upward pressure to total spending. In the first half of 2009 for example, senior citizens accounted for 31.7% of costs covered by the National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC). From a regulatory and legal point of view, the market is generally regarded as 'difficult'. Government policies are often not transparent, and there is a large degree of favouritism towards local manufacturers. It remains to be seen, but the situation should improve since the FTA was signed with the USA in 2007, which calls for more transparency especially in the pricing & reimbursement of medical devices.

THAILANDThe Thailand medical device market has been undergoing a period of rapid growth, and if fundamentals remain the same, the market looks set to expand at an attractive 7.5% per annum in the medium term. This growth could be somewhat tempered as a result of a global economic downturn, but the percentage point growth rate is still expected to be high by world standards. Market growth is tied to the strength of the United States economy and the performance of the local currency against the dollar. After a period of slow recovery, imports surpassed the pre-late 90s economic crash for the first time in 2004 and has grown strongly since then, all while the country has continued to maintain a steady positive balance of trade. Based on latest collated data, imports for full year 2011 rose sharply by 23.0% to reach a new high of US$822.5 million. All categories posted double-digit growth rates except patient aids, which still posted a rise of 5.7% over the previous year. The largest category, diagnostic imaging, grew by 18.7% over the previous year to reach US$245.6 million. The government has continued to back the universal healthcare system. In April 2009, the government announced it was raising the per capita expenditure budget to 2,400 baht (US$70) per head in fiscal 2010, from 2,202 baht. In overall terms, the government allocation for the scheme totalled 112.8 million baht (US$3.3 billion) for 2010.

DETAILED CONTENT FOR EVERY MARKET

MARKET OUTLOOK

Key national data projections

Current market size

Unique 5-year market projections

Market outlook

Market structure Including statistical data on imports and exports

Market access Including distribution and medical device regulation

Healthcare analysis Including demographics, healthcare system, health expenditure, healthcare infrastructure and personnel

DISTRIBUTORS

Details of the medical equipment distributors held in Espicom's database at the time of publication.

To order this report:Managed_care Industry: The Outlook for Medical Devices in South East Asia