Topics & Goals
Asia's significant global economic weight and its importance as a key sales, production, and procurement market, especially for German healthcare players, will continue to grow dynamically in the future. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the necessity and opportunities for global cooperation, especially in this area.
The OAV – German Asia-Pacific Business Association and the GHA – German Health Alliance, two of Germany's largest business networks, therefore pooled their regional expertise and industry expertise. They established a joint working group for companies in the pharmaceutical, medical technology, diagnostics, and healthcare sectors with business interests in Asia.
The inaugural meeting took place online in November 2021, and Dr. Bhuwnesh Agrawal, CEO of Sysmex Inostics GmbH, and Ben Schalke, Managing Director of Midas Pharma GmbH, were appointed co-chairs of the working group.
The working group aims to promote the exchange of experience among German companies and facilitate market development in the Asian healthcare markets. It focuses on current trends and specific challenges in the individual countries of the Asia-Pacific region (with the exception of China), which are shaped by demographic developments, politics, market growth, and competition. Furthermore, the working group aims to act as a catalyst for articulating its members' common concerns to the German and Asian governments.
The launch event took place online in March 2022, where German medium-sized and large companies reported on their business experiences in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
In August 2022, a second online event will address the regulatory hurdles for medical technology business development in Japan and Korea.
Finally, the working group plans to hold a high-level roundtable discussion on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) during the World Health Summit in Berlin in October 2022.
The working group is currently conducting a qualitative survey among its members to aggregate the individual challenges and determine the future events in 2023. Undoubtedly, the numerous countries of the Asia-Pacific region and the diverse sub-industries offer many other topics that the team led by Dr. Agrawal and Mr. Schalke will discuss with its members.
Contact Us
Regional Manager ASEAN
OAV – German Asia-Pacific Business Association
Operation
- Two meetings per year, held jointly with the OAV – German Asia-Pacific Business Association
- Preparation, support and implementation of delegation visits (incoming & outgoing)
- Close integration with the GHA specialist groups and GHA working groups on development cooperation in health and global health
- Jour fixe of the AG Chair with the Board
- Short report of the working group by the chairmen at the annual GHA members' meeting
- Establishment and use of a dedicated email distribution list for Health Asia for the working group members via the GHA website and newsletter function
