Dubai’s pharmaceuticals, medical supplies trade up 31% in Q1

Dubai’s pharmaceutical and medical supplies trade industry saw a 31 per cent rise in value during the first quarter of this year to reach Dhs6.8bn, up from Dhs5.2bn in Q1 2020.

While imports reached Dhs5.3bn, exports stood at Dhs590m, and exports and re-exports totalled Dhs1.4bn, Dubai Customs said in a statement.

Trade volumes also grew during the period to reach 48,600, up 47 per cent from 33,000 tonnes in the first three months of 2020.

Dubai Customs said it is “streamlining border clearance of medical supplies shipments to ensure they rapidly reach local, regional and global markets without delay” after fulfilling the requirements of the Ministry of Health and Prevention.

Nassim Al Mehairi, manager of the statistics section at Dubai Customs said: “Dubai Customs has sought to keep pace with the growing demand for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies in light of the current Covid-19 situation, putting more efforts to ensure quick inspection, clearance and release of these strategic goods to meet the community’s needs and maintain product availability in the market.”

The local growth in pharmaceutical trade comes even as the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free zone (Jafza) witnessed a 12 per cent rise in its customer base between 2019-2020.

“The boom in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals segment in Jafza has highlighted the core competencies of the sector in the Middle East and the seamless connectivity DP World offers to over 3.5 billion consumers through the highly efficient trade and logistics hub in Jebel Ali, which includes Jafza and the Jebel Ali Port,” said Abdulla bin Damithan, CEO and managing director, DP World – UAE Region and Jafza.