Medical Equipment Business Trends and the spread of Covid-19 in Thailand

From the analysis of the Krungsri Research, it is forecast that from 2021 – 2022 the trend of medical equipment business will grow at an average of 6.5%. The forecast is based on the number of Covid-19 infections that is likely to increase and the general argument regarding the vaccines that although people have been inoculated with two doses of vaccines but the risk of getting infected with Covid-19 still persists.

This resulted in hospitals offering alternative vaccine selection to people who are in need, which the number is also expected to increase. This is yet to include the consumables used in the treatment of this disease such as syringes, rubber gloves, surgical masks to prevent infection, raw materials required to produce the surgical masks, raw materials required to produce the vaccines, among other things related to medical equipment and consumables.

This is clear from the significant increase in investments from medical equipment manufacturing companies in industrial estates and industrial parks (Report of the Board of Investment or BOI). It is expected that the Covid-19 virus will remain for at least 2 – 3 years before an invention and development of effective vaccines that can eliminate it.

Currently there are as many as 595 companies that have registered as an industrial park with the Business Development Department (information as of May 2020) where 574 of these companies are SMEs with a market share of only 29%, while the other 21 companies are from large operators with a market share of up to 71%. The opportunity is still widely open as the production of medical devices and equipment is complex and must be under care and supervision of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the issuer of licenses to produce/distribute/import standard medical equipment, thus, the number of producers is still small. The ratio of production and distribution in the country and export is 30:70 where most of the markets that import medical devices and equipment are the USA, Japan and Germany. However, the number of medical equipment and device dealers in the country is as many as 8,000, so the competition among dealerships is quite intense because to register as a dealer is easier.

In the near future, Thailand will enter an aging society completely. According to statistics from the Department of Mental Health, it is predicted that by 2021, Thailand will have people aged 60 years up comprising 20% of the country's population and in the next 10 years or 2031, Thailand will enter a super-aged society. This will further open up the market for manufacturers of medical devices and supplies used to care for the elderly. It's no wonder that industrial estates have been asking for permission to invest from the BOI soaring in the past year.

Information sources:

• https://www.krungsri.com/th/research/industry/industry-outlook/Other-Industries/Medical-Devices/IO/medical-devices
• https://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=press_releases_detail&topic_id=125696&language=th
• https://www.dmh.go.th/news-dmh/view.asp?id=30453