TEHRAN – An Iranian House of Innovation and Technology (iHiT) will be inaugurated in Jakarta, Indonesia, concurrent with the 37th Indonesia Hospital Expo, being held from September 25 to 28.

The center aims to facilitate the entry of Iranian firms into Indonesia's markets and lay the ground for extensive cooperation in the fields of health and technology, ISNA reported.

Hospital Expo features medical, pharmaceutical, clinical, and laboratory equipment alongside medicine, offering industry participants an opportunity to display innovations and network for potential profitable investments.

Supported by the Organization for Development of International Cooperation in Science and Technology, Iranian knowledge-based companies have set up their pavilions in the exhibition. They plan to participate in business-to-business meetings and hold negotiations with representatives of hospitals as well as health officials in Indonesia.

The event serves as a great opportunity for Iranian knowledge-based firms and manufacturers to showcase their capabilities and products in the strategic South East Asian market and pave the way for the expansion of international cooperation with industry leaders and healthcare professionals from around the world.

Self-sufficiency in medicine, medical equipment is a priority

The issue of medicine and medical equipment production and self-sufficiency in these areas is one of the government’s priorities, Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarqandi has said.

Medicine and medical equipment are two important areas related to people’s health, he said, adding: “We are trying to reach self-sufficiency for the supply of medicine and medical equipment,” IRNA reported.

On January 13, the head of Iran’s Union of Medical Equipment Manufacturers and Exporters said that medical equipment worth around $20 million is exported to more than 60 countries annually.

More than 70 percent of medical equipment and 100 percent of normal hospital beds are domestically made, IRNA quoted Abdolreza Yaqoubzadeh as saying.

Also, over 95 percent of specific ICU and CCU beds and more than 85 percent of operating room medical equipment, such as anesthesia machines and other equipment, are manufactured with cutting-edge technology in the country, he added.

Yaqoubzadeh went on to say that the country’s need for medical equipment production is three to four billion dollars per year, some one billion dollars of which is imported.

Some 600 medical equipment companies are active in the country, producing around 99 percent of the medicine supplied to the domestic market.

Medical equipment manufacturers in the country produce and supply over 10,000 types of medical equipment to domestic and foreign markets. Now, various pieces of laboratory equipment are manufactured at prices much lower than the same foreign products.

Highly welcomed by Indonesian surgeons for their high quality and precision, four Iranian-made remote robotic surgery systems were installed in Indonesian hospitals in 2024.

The first two Iranian-made telesurgery systems had been installed in the hospitals in Bandung and Yogyakarta.  The third and the fourth in Wahidin Sudiro Husodo General Hospital in Makassar, and Haji Adam Malik General Hospital in Medan, IRNA reported.

Among the key advantages of the systems are affordability (one-fifth the price of foreign models), low maintenance, and cost-effective consumables.

MT/MG