CAIRO: In coordination with the Global Arab Network and the Euroconvention Conferences and the IFC, OPIC and the health ministers' council for the GCC states, Cairo will be the host of the MENA Healthcare Infrastructure Investment and Finance Summit 2010. The event will take place in the Egyptian capital on October 27-28. “Having considered recent trends in the region, the Summit will bring together interested companies, financial institutions and government representatives with financeable healthcare projects in the MENA countries and will explore the critical issues for successful development and structuring of public-private partnerships (PPP) and private equity healthcare infrastructure investments across the region,” a press statement from the conference organizers said. “As it is known, the Middle East healthcare business is expected to be worth some US$60 billion by 2025 as the need for investment in services and facilities increases,” it continued. Health care providers, experts, government officials and observers are optimistic that the conference will allow the region to take a closer look at the needs of the expanding population and the deteriorating health care systems regionally. According to Sameh Fadlah, a Tunisian health ministry advisor, the conference will enable “government officials to work with private institutions and doctors in order to create a system that works in the region.” He told Bikya Masr via telephone that “unlike other regions, the Middle East and North Africa have the infrastructure in place already to create something that is beneficial to all, we just need the impetus to make it happen.” Conference organizers, however, said the region is “the only region in the world that faces such a rapid increase in demand and this growth is creating new opportunities for construction and consulting companies, financial, banking and private equity sectors, as well as medical equipment suppliers and the pharma sector in particular. “Cairo promises to provide a unique opportunity to exploit opportunities in the presence of the key decision-makers from the Public Sector from the whole Region, the buy side private and public sector Hospital Management and the key European and US suppliers of services, equipment, construction and funding.” Over 200 people are expected to attend the confernence, which will consist of leading European, US and Middle East-based companies; large SMEs; technology-based companies, facility designers and constructors; trade financiers, investment officers, private equity investors, financial officers, legal firms, consulting and engineering companies, insurers, export credit agencies, multilateral institutions, financial institutions and PPP practitioners; central, regional and local Government Officials, etc. Among the speakers scheduled for the event are Hanif Hassan Ali, Minister of Health, United Arab Emirates Mohamad Khalifeh Jawad, Minister of Health, Lebanon Mohammed Al Yemeni, Advisor to the Minister of Health & General Supervisor of ICT, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia Faleh Mohammed H. Ali, Assistant Secretary General for Policy Affairs, Qatar Supreme Council of Health; Moazzam Mekan, Manager, PPP Transaction Advisory Services, International Finance Corporation, United Arab Emirates; David G. Vequist, Founder/Director, Center for Medical Tourism Research, USA; Akiko Maeda, Manager for Health, Nutrition and Population Health, Human Development Department, Middle East & North Africa Region, The World Bank, USA. BM
