The Saudi National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NDLP) predicts that the size of the pharmaceutical market in the Kingdom will reach 44 billion Riyals by 2030, this is after it registered 28 billion Riyals in 2020. According to “NDLP”, the size of the medical devices and equipment market in the Kingdom is 19 billion Riyals, recording an annual growth of about 4.4%, and it is one of the competitive advantages of the market to work on localizing these industries.
During a workshop at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce, the program reviewed the most prominent initiatives that it relied on to achieve the objectives of Vision 2030, and the competitive advantage it possesses. That through integrative work with 40 successful partners to achieve the goals of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Kingdom to be a pioneer in the industry and logistics world.
The program aspires to localize 40% of the value of the Saudi pharmaceutical industry and focus on supporting the localization of the most advanced products. This is to make the Kingdom a leading and innovative manufacturer and exporter to the Middle East, Africa and the countries of the Organization of the Islamic World with a market size exceeding 400 billion Riyals.
It also aspires to develop the medical devices and supplies industry and support health security by raising the percentage of industry localization to 15%. This is including consumable medical supplies, simple and medium devices, high sterilization devices, and activating industry localisation agreement.
“NDLP” noted the competitive advantage of the pharmaceutical, medical equipment, and devices industry, noting that the Kingdom imports 94 % of the domestic demand for medical devices and equipment.
Also pointed out that the growth of the older population is pushing the demand for health care to increase by about 200% by 2030, which promotes the localization of the manufacture of medical devices and equipment, and vital medicines, as 75% of pharmaceutical products are imported.
Also pointed out that the huge size of the health sector and the presence of a unified company for government procurement help to implement the content policy effectively.