Between 16th and 17th march I have attended the 30th edition of Expomed Eurasia the biggest medical device related exhibition in Istanbul Turkey. The event itself took 3 days, presented more than 700 companies and welcomed around 20000 visitors from 120 countries.
Regarding the Turkish medical device market it is important to mention that it is a stronghold in the hospital furniture and equipment segment with hospital beds, therapy beds, hospital cabinets and many more similar products. A lot of manufacturers in this field are present worldwide and export their products to Europe, Asia and America. Besides hospital furniture, surgical equipment and orthopedic solutions also had a firm presentation at the exhibition. The start up zone compared to other medical fairs was unfortunately negligible, so this may need a boost in the future. Hungary was among the biggest delegation with 8 companies present. It was great to see the “Macaristan” stand.
During the two days I attended at the event with a colleague of our local partner company Normetic we engaged with numerous companies and discussed the MDR transition in greater details and their readiness in terms of product and quality system level for the European Regulation. In most cases the companies due to postponement of the MDR deadlines put the transition on hold. That means that the medical device market itself is not yet MDR compliant. For me it was also interesting to hear that manufacturers are not in need of EU representation when exporting their products in this field due to mutually recognition agreement between Turkey and the EU.
From the conversations with the main actors of the market it is clear that they are in need of a clear and visible explanation of the new requirements and have great demand for services such as consultancy and clinical investigations. For this reason QTICS Medical Group which provides a one stop service package for MDR compliance could be a key service provider In Turkey in the future.
Apart from the customer base at exhibitions I always aim to get in contact with segment related chambers, associations, fellow service providers and local laboratories. I can proudly confirm that the complex service package and professional attitude we possess at QTICS Medical was appealing to both the laboratories and to SEIS Health Industry Employers’ Association of Turkey - that present more than 1000 medical manufacturers from the headquarter in Ankara (www.seis.org.tr) - generating the opportunity for future collaborations and a possible seminar on MDR compliance for their members.
To summarize it I can confirm the significance of the Turkish medical devices market as for its size and potential. However, Turkey as a country faces many economic challenges right now, because of the sky high inflation and the double taxation with European Union, the actors of the segment is strongly price sensitive and service providers from Europe have difficulties to enter the TIC market while being competitive with local consultants and companies. Nevertheless with our local partner Normetic, QTICS Medical Group will provide special attention to this market, will follow its progress towards the MDR compliance and hopefully can be a guiding hand for the companies involved.