YB Senator Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz attended the Budget 2023 Consultation with members of the Association of Malaysian Medical Industries (AMMI) at the B. Braun campus in Penang. Also in attendance were YB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow, Chief Minister of Penang, Penang Development Corporation, InvestPenang, MIDA and NCIA.
Thirty AMMI members attended the Q3 Meeting and CEO Networking at JEN Hotel Sutera Harbour, Johor on 1 September 2022. Aside from the Q3 updates. there were 2 presentations from invited speakers. Mr Nazhif Yusof, Country Director, Vriens & Partners gave a presentation of the ” Current Malaysian Political and Healthcare Landscape.”. This was followed by the presentation by Mr Lew Foo Yew, APAC Regional Regulatory Affairs Director, Alcon – who gave an insightful presentation on the Regulatory Landscape in Asia.
Over 23 participants attended the AMMI HR Roundtable held at the Olive Tree Hotel Penang on 10 August 2022.
Key highlights from the event
Kuala Lumpur, 28 July 2022 – The Association of Malaysian Medical Industries (AMMI), as the voice of Malaysia’s medical device industry, strongly supports the Ratification of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) by the Government of Malaysia.
Today, over 290 medical device manufacturing companies make up Malaysia’s vibrant medical device industry, undertaking a range of activities – from serving as regional headquarters and manufacturing to research and development. Malaysia is gaining recognition as a world-class medical devices hub and a desirable offshore manufacturing destination for global medical device companies. Ten of the top 30 global medical technology companies have set up manufacturing footprints.
AMMI welcomes the findings of the Cost and Benefit Analysis conducted on the CPTPP, published by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) recently. Malaysia stands to gain not only from the elimination of tariffs and reduction of non-tariff barriers but also from the capacity building and technical assistance offered under the Agreement.
Malaysia’s major exports to CPTPP countries include rubber gloves, contact lenses, syringes and needles, as well as surgical instruments. CPTPP countries account for nearly 19% of Malaysia’s medical devices exports. The major export destinations are Japan and Singapore.
Presently, Malaysian exports of medical devices to CPTPP countries face tariffs up to 15.5%, which mostly affect surgical gloves. With CPTPP, these tariffs will be fully eliminated by 2034 across all CPTPP countries.
Additionally, with the ratification of CPTPP, Malaysian medical device exports will be able to access new markets such as Canada, Mexico, and Peru. Of the three countries, Canada and Peru are net importers of medical devices. The market with the largest potential is Canada. In 2019, around 27% of Canada’s medical devices imports were patient aids, surgical gloves and syringes, needles and catheters, all of which are key export products for Malaysia.
Tariff elimination for medical devices by Canada (presently up to 15.5%), Mexico (15%) and Peru (9%) will benefit Malaysian exporters in this sector. For example, Malaysian exporters will be able to export surgical gloves to Canada at 0% tariff, which is now at 15.5%.
CPTPP will enable medical device manufacturers located in Malaysia to further grow their exports to the CPTPP countries. The Malaysian SMEs exporters will benefit from greater market access in ancillary industries. Given the wide and growing range of products manufactured by both MNCs and local companies, this sector supports many other ancillary industries such as rubber – gloves, catheters, condoms; plastics and packaging – intravenous (IV) sets, syringes, procedural kits; electronics – pacemakers, hearing implants, electrocardiogram (ECG) machines; metal – orthopaedics implants, surgical instruments; as well as textiles – surgical gowns, drapes, covers.
CPTPP offers opportunities for the medical device sector to benefit from the Cooperation and Capacity Building Chapter through collaborative programmes and projects, exchange of experts, information and technology, as well as capacity building and technical assistance programmes with leading medical device innovators from other advanced CPTPP countries.
AMMI believes that CPTPP will enable Malaysia to attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in medical device manufacturing and position Malaysia as the contract manufacturing hub for medical devices in Asia.
Andy Lee
Chairman
Association of Malaysian Medical Industries (AMMI)
马来西亚医疗器械行业协会会长 李光明
The AMMI Roundtable and Dinner with MIDA Life Sciences and Medical Technology Vision was held on 28 June, at Olive Hotel Penang. MIDA was represented by Puan Azlina Hamdan (Director), Encik Sherulanuar Abd Karim (Deputy Director), Puan Nurhafizah Abdullah (Asst Director) and Encik Ahmad Mohsein Azman (Asst Director). AMMI was led by Mr Christoph Mueller (Vice-Chairman), Mr Michel Van Crombrugge (Treasurer) , Mr HT Eow (Director of the Board) and Mr CS Ching (Executive Director), together with AMMI members present. Among the topics discussed were the 2023 National Budget – Preparation of Budget Proposals (Medical Devices), revolutionizing Malaysia medical device industry as well as proposals/ideas to grow the medical device industry.
