The UAE Ministry of Energy and Industry is collaborating with strategic partners in the medical sector to formulate plans to enhance the level of innovation, productivity, and competitiveness of the country's medical industries.

Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Industry, said the goal is to draw learnings from the current crisis that can be used to strengthen the UAE’s healthcare sector, develop local capabilities, and allocate local resources accordingly, to enhance preparedness for future disruptions.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has directed the Ministry of Energy and Industry to prepare an urgent action plan aimed at raising the level of productivity and competitiveness of the medical industry in the country. In cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Prevention and local health authorities, the plan will assess the national requirements for medical equipment and supplies in order to enhance production capabilities to build a greater level of national self-sufficiency in readiness for potential future crises.

Al Mazrouei said, "We are confident that our medical factories will be capable of covering a large part of the UAE’s future medical requirements. The study will provide the information we need to make the necessary investments to enhance the strength of these factories and raise the readiness of national manufacturing. All the country’s factories operate in strict accordance with the highest recognised international standards and export to a number of countries."

The plan will be developed through five phases, namely identifying priority products for the health sector, assessing the needs of the health sector for priority products, assessing local manufacturing capabilities and gaps to meet local demand, initial evaluation of data and choosing the first package of products, and finally, the submission of recommendations by the task forces for investment opportunities, the executive plan, proposed partnerships, and policies to support national industries in the medical sector.

The plan is aligned with the objectives of the UAE leadership to devise a post-COVID 19 strategy, including drawing up action plans and setting specific goals and immediate and future targets to address the challenges resulting from the pandemic, while also developing forward-looking policies to deal with any other environmental and epidemiological challenges that may emerge in future. This will begin with an evaluation of the deficiencies in sectors that have encountered the most difficulties in dealing with the current crisis.