The French Pavilion at Arab Health 2022 was organised by Business France with a delegation of 79 French businesses gathering under the banner of the French Healthcare, in order to create and develop meaningful connections and support innovation in the healthcare sector. Business France is the French agency responsible for supporting the international development of the French economy. It works to promote export growth by French businesses, and to encourage and facilitate international investment in France. French Healthcare, on the other hand, is an innovative public-private initiative aimed at bringing together players in the French healthcare ecosystem (businesses, researchers, healthcare professionals, public players, etc.) so that they can jointly promote their activities, know-how and technologies internationally.
On the sidelines of the show, we spoke to Jean-Patrick Lajonchère, director-general of Paris St. Joseph Hospital and senior advisor for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Jean-François Gendron, President of the French Healthcare Association, President of the Val de Loire Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Vice-president of CCI International, who discussed French Healthcare Association’s partnership in detail.
French Healthcare organised, in partnership with the French Healthcare Association and Business France, a high-profile phygital conference in English at the France Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai from January 25-26, during Arab Health.
Gendron said: “French Healthcare has over 250 members from different specialities under its umbrella. Therefore, attending Arab Health 2022 is important for all French exhibitors. In fact, many of them were here last June for the last edition. We have also organised seven conferences at the French Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, from January 25 and 26, that will cover various topics such as diabetes, digital health, and women’s health, among others.”
Oncology is one of the key healthcare sectors that France specialises in, said Lajonchère. “We are leading innovators in developing medical devices that can help reduce pain and think it is important for patients to start taking control of their own healthcare and are keen on investing in innovation. France also has a long history of excellence in areas such as cardiovascular, surgery, diagnostics, and comprehensive medicine. For example, our oncology centres are renowned worldwide. French medicine is not only about biology or imaging, but it is also about clinical examination. Therefore, it is essential to focus on comprehensive medicine.”
The slogan of French Healthcare is ‘Improving healthcare for all’, and Gendron highlighted that, “we speak with this phrase to the world and want to highlight the quality of our offerings to the world. It’s our philosophy. We want to do prove that with the innovations present here by French companies at Arab Health.”
Lajonchère added: “Inside France, healthcare for all is a reality, nobody is outside of the system and there is no priority given, everyone receives the care they need. We are one of the very few systems in the world that offer this. Therefore, with our slogan, we are trying to say that this is possible for other people as well. So, with our companies, with us taking charge of foreign patients, we would like to propose this for everybody.”
Gendron stressed that there are two factors that make the relationship between the UAE and France strong. First, France has several investments in the country and has entered strategic partnerships such as developing the Louvre. Secondly, Dubai is a hub for the Middle East and being present in the region presents numerous opportunities for French companies.
“Furthermore, this market asks for very high technology devices, which presents an interesting challenge for our companies,” Lajonchère added.
The French Healthcare Association also provides help with hospital infrastructure, right from design programming to construction, quality, and financing, among others. According to Gendron: “We want to offer a global solution for hospitals. For example, when building a hospital, it is not important to just have equipment inside, but efficient training needs to occur. This is something we can offer.”
“Besides all the industrial offer, there are medical doctors in France that are able to teach and welcome doctors for training in France. So, there are not only the companies that are present at Arab Health who are willing to share their know-how but there are doctors that can help teach and transfer their knowledge,” Lajonchère concluded.
