Public-private Mission’s Visit to Iraq Relating to the Integrated Export of Medical Services and DevicesFirst Attempt for Achieving Exports of Integrated Infrastructure Systems in the Medical Area

From Tuesday, September 25 to Thursday, September 27, 2012, a public-private medical mission, which was led by Mr. Hiroshi Fukushima, Director of the Healthcare Industries Division of METI and composed of members from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), METI, private enterprises and other organizations, visited Baghdad, Iraq. The mission exchanged views with Iraqi officials while participating in a workshop held by the Ministry of Health as well as visiting the Medical City Hospital in Baghdad. Dispatching a public-private mission to a specific country is the first attempt in the medical area.

As additional information, on September 3, 2012, the Ministerial Meeting on the Overseas Deployment of Integrated Infrastructure Systems discussed further promotion of global development in which medical devices and services are integrated, and METI is now advancing 23 demonstration projects on overseas development in 10 countries in FY 2012.

Iraqi officials explained to the mission the current situation in health area in Iraq, future efforts that they will take, including bidding schedules for constructing medical organizations, etc., specific needs for medical equipment, necessary medical technologies and other skills, and other issues. Meanwhile, METI's mission officials described Japan's efforts for medical globalization and the enterprises from the mission illustrated the general conditions of the medical area and medical equipment and technologies that they deal with. At the same time, both countries exchanged views toward encouraging business between Japan and Iraq in the medical area.

The dispatch of the mission is a concrete follow-up effort deriving from the Japan-Iraq cooperation agreed upon by the first Japan-Iraq Joint Economic Committee held in May 2012, in which Japan agreed to support Iraq in know-how and experience, using Japanese medical devices, services and technologies.

Through such dispatch of public-private missions and other measures, it is expected that Japanese companies will be able to facilitate their business expansion in Iraq.

Reference 1: Members of the public-private mission relating to integrated export of medical services and devices

Government side:

Mr. Hiroshi Fukushima, Director, Healthcare Industries Division of METI, and others

Private side:

Six companies, including manufacturers of medical devices, 2 doctors, and others

Reference 2: Ministerial Meeting on the Overseas Deployment of Integrated Infrastructure Systems

The Meeting was created for dealing with roaring demand for infrastructure mainly in Asia as well as supporting efforts of private enterprises in the infrastructure area and making flexible decisions on the issues in the area from cross-national and politician-led standpoints. The Meeting held its first meeting in September 2010 and 17 meetings in total have been held so far.

Website of the Meeting: http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/package/index.html (in Japanese)

September 27, 2012

Healthcare Industries Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau