S’pore SMEs making waves in med-tech field
Hospital beds that move by themselves, a palm-sized wireless heart monitor and a wheelchair with retractable wheels.
These are not wild ideas, but inventions developed here in Singapore that could soon be used around the world.
Though the medical technology sector here is still relatively new, companies – most of which are small and nimble – have already started taking their made-in-Singapore products abroad.
Manufacturers in Singapore made about S$4.3 billion (US$3.4 billion) worth of medical technology products for the global market last year.
About two-thirds of the companies in the medical technology sector are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which contributed S$62 million (US$48.9 million) of value-add to the economy. Singapore is also home to more than 30 medical technology companies that have set up commercial-scale plants to produce medical devices for the international market.
Companies are increasingly focusing on the Asian market, said Dr Tan Sze Wee, who is deputy executive director of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*Star) Biomedical Research Council.
The global medical technology industry is projected to exceed US$300 billion by 2017. A significant contribution to this expansion will come from the Asia-Pacific market, which is expected to grow more than 10 per cent over the same period, said Dr Tan, who is also the programme director of A*Star’s medical technology initiatives.
Source: Asia News Network
Published: 06 Feb 2014
Category: Features, Technology & Devices
