Staff Reporter, Gulf Today

The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), home to the city of Sydney, highlighted its world-class health, medtech and R&D ecosystem at a VIP dinner event held at the Australia Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

A Major Partner of the Australian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, NSW showcased its most prominent and innovative health, medtech and research organisations, along with prime investment opportunities that exist across medical and biotechnology research and viral vector manufacturing across NSW’s health precincts.

The event was led by the newly appointed NSW Agent General to the United Kingdom, and Senior Trade Commissioner to European Union and Israel, Mr Stephen Cartwright OAM and  Moin Anwar, NSW Trade and Investment Commissioner (UAE).

It was attended by government and high-ranking officials from Australia and the Middle East including His Excellency Ian Halliday, Australian Consul General to the UAE; His Excellency Dr Amin Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary of Health Regulation at the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention; Dr Abdulkareem Al Olama, CEO of Al Jalila Foundation, and esteemed representatives from the Dubai Health Authority: His Excellency Dr Marwan Al Mulla, CEO of Health Regulation Sector;  Dr Saleh Al Hashimi, CEO of Dubai Health Insurance Corporation and His Excellency Dr Ramadan Al Blooshi, Senior Adviser to the Director General.

The event brought some of the best health and medical organisations from both Australia and the UAE to discuss how the two countries can partner on innovation, technology and meeting the future needs of healthcare.

In his address, Dr Al-Amiri stressed the importance of “collaboration in digital health and medical technologies between Australia and the UAE”.

Stephen Cartwright said the showcase event was just one of many ways the government is actively engaging with global investors to grow the state’s AUD 92 billion pre-pandemic healthcare sector.

“Thanks to the NSW Government’s investment of $10.1 billion over four years for capital health infrastructure projects, the NSW medical technology industry has become the largest in Australia.”

NSW is increasingly attracting overseas investment in target sectors of medtech, biotechnology, clinical trials, gene and cell therapies and digital health, with 30 per cent of Australian pre-clinical and discovery research activity taking place in NSW.

“As UAE investors’ activity in the health and medtech industry grows, we know there is great opportunity for the UAE to invest in the growing health precincts of NSW.”

“NSW boasts more than 10 dedicated health precincts for place-based investment opportunities with world-renowned research institutes and state-of-the-art medical facilities, supported by a comprehensive health ecosystem,”  Cartwright said.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wollongong, Professor Patricia Davidson, spoke about the University’s long-standing relationship with the UAE, having set-up the campus of University of Wollongong in Dubai in 1993. She showcased the University’s cutting-edge innovations in 3D bioprinting through their initiative, the Translational Research Initiative for Cell Engineering and Printing (TRICEP).

NSW is home to 4 of Australia’s top 10 universities, many of whom feature in the top 100 universities in the world and is also home to 37 per cent of the Australia’s medtech companies.

“With a state-of-the-art healthcare system, top research institutions and thriving medical and pharmaceutical industries, there is no better time to show why NSW is the ideal location to develop and market new medical technologies,” Cartwright said.

Malaysia: Kite flying has been a traditional pastime for children in Malaysia for centuries. The Malaysia Pavilion is reviving this leisure activity through its monthly “My Butterfly Kite flying” event, where visitors, children and families, can join in the fun and fly butterfly-shaped kites.

The coming kite flying event is scheduled for Sunday, 30th January 2022, at Al Forsan Park, Expo 2020 Dubai from 3pm until 5pm. Children and adults alike will be able to play with the kites at the kite flying event, with 250 pieces to be given out for them to take home. There will also be quizzes with great prizes up for grabs.

Michelle Lau, Malaysia Pavilion Director said: “Making and flying kites was a popular pastime in Malaysia, however, it has decreased in popularity since the onset of technology. Traditional kite craftsmen can still be found in certain states like Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis. Known as “wau” in Malay, kites are forged with great skill and care in order to create the biggest, most beautifully designed kite, and most importantly, that soars the highest. These kites come in all shapes, sizes and colours but the most well-known is the “wau bulan” (moon kite), which is one of Malaysia’s national symbols.”

The monthly kite flying event is not only to celebrate a tradition, but also aims to create awareness of the pavilion’s #MyButterflyEffect brand campaign. The social campaign aims to create a “butterfly effect” of green growth ideas.

The original butterfly effect concept comes from the chaos theory made popular by mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz. According to the theory a small action in one place can create a bigger impact elsewhere and Malaysia, through its participation in Expo 2020 Dubai, aims to set an example to promote and inspire sustainable actions.

Lau added: “Our Pavilion is proudly Net Zero Carbon as an example of our sustainability commitments for Expo 2020 Dubai. We want to imprint the importance of sustainability on the minds of our visitors and event participants.

“The butterfly kite flying event is a terrific opportunity for us to create awareness of the #MyButterflyEffect brand campaign and what each of us can do to contribute to a better tomorrow. We hope that every time someone flies one of our beautiful butterfly kites, or sees a butterfly, it will remind them of how their actions will affect the future.”