The market for medical equipment in Bangladesh is similar to that in India with a strong demand for high-end technology solutions but at affordable costs. Given the clinical needs and outcomes are same across the world, this market also seeks proven advanced technology to address healthcare needs but expect costs to be affordable for the local population. To further tap the business opportunity, Philips would continue to invest in local resources to serve their customers in this region. The company has been also extending local financing to customers which is a key differentiator in a competitive market, V. Raja, Vice-Chairman and MD, Philips India tells Nandita Vijay. Excerpts:
What is the extend of Philips presence in Bangladesh?
Philips has a legal entity in Bangladesh and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Philips. We have a full- fledged team of sales, service and support functions to address our customer needs in Bangladesh. Over the past few years, we have grown our customer and installed based in the country with virtually all the major hospitals and diagnostic centres using our products with satisfactory performance, resulting in repeat business for us. Our consumer business also has a strong presence and we offer our entire portfolio of products through our local distribution channel.
Which equipment and solutions are marketed here?
All our healthcare equipment including MRI, CT, Cathlab, Patient Monitors, Surgical C arms, Ultrasounds and X-rays are sold in this market. In the consumer segment, we sell domestic appliances, hair care, male and female grooming, air-fryers and air purifiers to name a few. Our lighting business also has a large presence in Bangladesh.
What is the response from Bangladesh?
We have a significant market share in the medical equipment market. We believe, we are the market leaders in high-end 3Tesla MRI, 128 slice CT (computerized axial tomography) scanners, 4D ultrasounds, patient monitors and flat panel cath-labs which are the core of medical equipments needed by hospitals and diagnostics centres. We continue to see repeat business from our customers primarily because of our strength in innovation that enables us to offer technologically superior products coupled with strong local presence in sales, after-sales service and warehousing of spare parts for our equipment. The brand name has also given us a strong consumer base and helps promote our consumer business too.
How does the company perceive the medical equipment scene generally in Bangladesh?
The market for medical equipment in Bangladesh is similar to that in India with a strong demand for high-end technology solutions but at affordable costs. Given the clinical needs and outcomes are same across the world, this market also seeks proven advanced technology to address healthcare needs but expects costs to be affordable for the local population. Lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiac ailments are on the rise and keeps the market demand growing for medical equipment to diagnose these conditions earlier and faster.
Going forward what is your action plan for the Bangladesh market?
Going forward, we would continue to invest in local resources to serve our customers in the market. We have also been extending local financing for our customers which differentiates us from competition. We will bring more value products that are affordable to the local market especially for cities and towns beyond Dhaka which is the central hub for healthcare in Bangladesh.
Could you comment on the healthcare infrastructure in Bangladesh and how much are equipment from companies like Philips in demand here?
The country has healthcare facilities largely concentrated in four cities: Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Khulna with Dhaka being the epicentre of healthcare. Most hospitals and diagnostic centres have the latest technology medical equipment in MRI /CT /Cathlab and ultrasound as doctors working in these hospitals are well versed with the technology available in the market and want to use them to get better clinical outcomes for their patients. The number of beds available are inadequate, given the need in the country and hence you see most hospitals and diagnostic centres always crowded and running to capacity. Cost of healthcare is a challenge and that creates a huge stress on the patient’s pocket. Like India, healthcare is largely private dominated and insurance penetration is very low leading to out-of- pocket expenses for the patients.
What are the visible trends?
There is a clear need for more value products without compromise in technology and cost being the single major challenge to growth. However, the government is now slowly and surely upgrading infrastructure in their hospitals and that should help address some of the needs of the poor patients and make healthcare accessible to them. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are also being initiated and should help in driving quality healthcare at affordable costs.
What are the challenges here in this market to succeed?
Like most emerging markets, we have to be a local player and have a strong local team to meet the customer needs. Service is extremely important. Given the high volume of patients and the lower charges aligned to patients ability to pay, the uptime in the equipment have to be almost 100 per cent and therefore the ability to keep them running is critical to success. That is why we have a strong local service team, trained on all our equipment as well as stocking of a large volume of spare parts for our equipment that enable us to service our customers efficiently and effectively.
How does the company look at foreign direct investment (FDI) coming into the medical equipment space of India?
There is a lot of interest in healthcare companies in India and we see a surge of investment in healthcare start-ups, driven by private equity and large companies providing seed fund to these companies. I believe there would be fresh investments in India in manufacturing, given the thrust by the government on ‘Make in India’ in medical devices.
What are your views on the Union government’s draft Medical Devices Rules, 2016 issued for comments of the industry?
The good news is the government is coming out with regulation in a sector that was largely unregulated leading to lack of consistency in quality of devices and marginal players selling on price alone. Again, feedback is also being sought from the industry on the draft regulation. Hence the government is taking correct steps in consultation with the industry. However, we need to ensure that we do not end up re-inventing the wheel where there are established regulations and rules governing these devices which industry players like us are subjected to and comply with and would find it expensive and be counterproductive if we have to follow another set of rules for India alone. Harmonization with established standards across the globe would be faster and productive.