Swecare together with the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs hosted a hybrid seminar at Expo 2020 Dubai. Held in the Swedish pavilion on the 1st and 2nd of February, the event welcomed expo participants who gathered to discover the Swedish strengths in antibiotic resistance, digitalisation and cancer control.

The ambition is that the participation will lead to far-reaching life science collaborations and the creation of business opportunities in the Middle East as well as globally.

“The Swedish healthcare sector is the second largest export for Sweden, and I am proud to head this prominent delegation consisting of key stakeholders and experts from the public and private sector during the Health and Wellness week at Expo 2020. Our aim with these two days is to create a platform to discuss how to build resilient healthcare system for the future”, said Niclas Jacobson, Deputy Director General, at the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in Sweden.

As the delegation’s organiser, Swecare has during this thought-provoking event addressed questions from the audience around sustainable healthcare systems and how can all parties get together to meet the big challenges that healthcare is facing globally.

One of these challenges is cancer and that’s why the Swedish Innovation Milieu, Vision Zero Cancer was also co-organising the World Cancer Event by Sweden on February 2.

“We are looking at societal challenges today in health and well-being such as cancer that exist within complex systems. No single actor can solve these challenges on their own – we need to dare to partner to reach the vision of Zero Cancer and we are here in Dubai to put this into action with everyone here” says Professor Hans Hägglund, national cancer coordinator of Sweden.

The pandemic has proven that individual countries can’t manage without international cooperation, and also that to meet the global challenges, international interaction even needs to expand. In spite of being a relatively small country, Sweden ranks high in international comparisons of medical research, thanks to large investments in research and development.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to increase Sweden’s appeal abroad, and to meet the international interest for Swedish healthcare solutions”, said Jan Thesleff, Commissioner General for the Swedish participation. During 2020, health-related products accounted for Sweden’s second largest export revenue, which means it constitutes a big part of Sweden’s economy and prosperity. With over $12 billion, the Swedish export of medical and pharmaceutical products comprised more than traditional Swedish export branches like forest, iron and steel products.

“Sweden is ranked as one of the most innovative countries in the world and has historically been a country of healthcare innovation. The World Expo is a unique opportunity to establish new collaborations and attract investments for increased growth and export. We are looking forward to a broad international participation – together we can solve some of the world’s most urgent healthcare challenges, following the Swedish pavilion’s theme “Co-creation for Innovation”, said Maria Helling, CEO of Swecare.

AstraZeneca, Arjo, Bactiguard, Elekta, Essity, Getinge and Mölnlycke are among the participating Swedish companies.

Entrepreneurial Spirit: Continuing the legacy of India Innovation Hub’s flagship series, the ninth edition of ‘Elevate’ held recently saw participation from seventeen startups. The founders and cofounders of the startups showcase innovative solutions across sectors like Education, Healthcare, Medical Devices, Electronics, E-commerce, Technology and Fashion at the popular pitching series.

‘Elevate’ series is a key initiative of the India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai that aims to display unconventional solutions created by 500 start-ups over five months under the India Innovation Hub umbrella and is supported by HSBC.

Some of the Indian startups, which presented their business ideas include D3S Healthcare Technologies, an Ahmedabad based startup that is focused on saving lives by providing effective, low-cost breast cancer screening devices to hospitals & clinics; Neomotion Assistive Solutions, a Chennai based startup that aims to cater to the needs of elderly, patients and physically challenged and Insta Printz, an Indore based startup that has leveraged its experience to create a range of 3D printing services for industries like healthcare, automotive and consumer goods among others.

Some of the startups from the UAE include Spectrum Mill, a startup that aims to break down corporate barriers for prospective job applicants that are differently-abled by leveraging a digital platform to train them in testing and helping them monetize their skills and BorrowMe, a platform that enables a sharing economy, allowing users & businesses to benefit from underused items among others.

Neurofy from Sweden presented a handheld device capable of detecting different diseases based on the odour emitted from the body and bodily fluids.

The India Pavilion recently accomplished an important milestone as it showcased 250 startups at Expo2020 Dubai. A special ‘India Pavilion Hub EV Bus’ was launched to commemorate the occasion. The event also announced the broadening of the startup outreach programmes to different incubation centres and other prominent institutions in the UAE and other GCC countries.

The event was attended by leading investors including Akbar Moideen, VP-Healthcare Division & Board Member, Thumbay, Sreekumar, Investments Director, Dubai Investments Industries, Neelesh Bhatnagar, Managing Director, NB Ventures, Vinod Talreja, Group Director & Board Member, Landmark Group, Sreenath P. Reddy, Group CFO, Aster, Dr Srinath Dore, Specialist in Gastroenterology & Liver Diseases, Emirates Hospital Clinic, Mr Pankaj Kumbhat, VP - Finance, Scion Group, Anil Nahar, Financial Advisor, Bahwan Cybertek, Mr Paras Shahadpuri, Chairman, NIKAI, Praveen Jain, Senior VP, VAMM Group, Karthik Raman, Industry Leader-Telco & Media, Strategy & Market Growth, IBM and Mr Mahesh Ramakrishnan, Vice President/Relationship Manager, Deutsche Bank Wealth Management among others.

The Indian startup ecosystem currently has over 60,000 DPIIT-registered startups from 628 districts across all 28 States and 8 Union Territories. India ranks in the top 50 countries in the Global Innovation Index (GII) and is the 5th most startup-friendly country in the world (leading in Asia). Embodying the true spirit of a self-reliant India, and despite the extreme challenges posed by the global pandemic, over 40 new unicorns came into existence in India, taking the total number of unicorns to 85.