Turkish medical supplier mulls hospital projects
A leading global electro-surgical gear maker with nanotech ability is
scouting for entry to Sri Lanka’s healthcare sector.
“We are of gold standard in terms of electro-surgical gear and
operating theatre equipment. We are exploring the possibility of setting
up hospital projects on a turnkey basis in Sri Lanka,” said Sales and
Marketing Manager of Turkey’s Üzümcü Cihaz ve Medikal Gaz Sistemleri
San. ve Tic. A.S., Tugrul Karagulle in Colombo last week.
Turkey is the eastern-most member in the NATO bloc. According
Commerce Department sources, trade with Turkey has been on an increasing
trend lately. Trade turnover in 2005 which stood at $ 97.4 million
almost doubled to US $ 190.57 million by 2012, an increase of 95.66%.
The balance of trade between Sri Lanka and Turkey has been in favour of
Sri Lanka during the past eight years, increasing six-fold from US $
14.7 million to US $ 88.39 million by 2012. Karagülle said, “This is our
first visit to Sri Lanka.
Our products are used in more than 60 countries in five continents.
We hope to meet several government and private sector officials in
Colombo. We are headquartered in Ankara. Our products are of EU
standard. We are a well-known brand in the Middles East, Africa, Russia
and the Russian speaking countries. We are not into the manufacturing of
pharmaceuticals. Our in-depth expertise in production and installation
of medical devices and medical gas system equipment since 1969, has
given us medical infrastructure and technical ability such as
nanotechnology,” he said.
“We are also interested in hospital management and BOT projects. We
are ready to transfer quality healthcare systems and expertise of our
Turkey operations to Sri Lanka,” Karagulle said.
“We studied Sri Lanka’s medical system and we think there is a need
for more ‘technologically advanced hospitals’ here,” he said.
“We will not set up a medical equipment manufacturing factory here
but explore the possibility of setting up a private hospital possibly as
a joint venture with a local partner and equip it with our own medical
equipment and technology,” Karagulle said. |
