The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute announced on Friday their participation in WHX 2026, the world’s largest healthcare exhibition. The event, held from February 9-12 at the Dubai Exhibition Center (DEC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), showcased the technological prowess and clinical expertise of Korea’s medical device industry, reinforcing its strategic position in the Middle Eastern market.
The Institute, in collaboration with Incheon Technopark and Seongnam Industrial Promotion Agency, operated the Korea Med-Tech Experience Pavilion. This innovative platform went beyond traditional product displays, offering an integrated model for international expansion that combined clinical technology, education, and business networking.
Ten cutting-edge Korean medical device companies, including Dain Medical, Healcerion, Twoel Bio, Pixelo, Curaco, Medisell Healthcare, Choicetech, Medmix, MediHub, and MediInTech, showcased their innovations alongside global industry leaders, demonstrating both their technological capabilities and market potential.
The pavilion served as a dynamic evidence-based business platform, featuring dedicated seminar spaces and business lounges. It facilitated product demonstrations, technical briefings, and on-site consultations, effectively highlighting the clinical reliability and practical applications of Korean medical devices to international buyers.
The Institute facilitated business meetings with buyers and partners from over 40 countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Germany, and the U.S. This effort yielded impressive results: 520 consultations, 12.3 million USD in potential deals, 2.7 million USD in export contracts, and one memorandum of understanding (MOU), significantly expanding Korean companies’ footprint in Middle Eastern and global markets.
The event also provided a platform to showcase Korea’s advanced clinical techniques and educational models internationally. A highlight was the Korea-UAE Bidirectional Endoscopic Spine Surgery (UBE) Training Conference, co-hosted by the Institute and Incheon Technopark. The conference featured live surgical demonstrations using Korean-made equipment and shared valuable clinical insights, receiving enthusiastic feedback from local medical professionals.
This conference was strategically designed to introduce UBE surgical techniques, a Korean specialty, directly to local medical staff while demonstrating the clinical excellence of domestic medical equipment through hands-on experiences. It successfully presented a K-Medical Device Clinical Dissemination Model to the Middle Eastern market, integrating advanced clinical techniques with innovative products.
To ensure long-term growth in the local market, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the Regional Medical Device Training Support Center and the Himchan UAE Center. This agreement establishes a crucial educational and training hub for Korean medical devices in the Middle East, laying the groundwork for sustained market presence.
The tangible business outcomes of these efforts are particularly noteworthy. For instance, Waycen, a Korean artificial intelligence (AI) based medical device developer, secured a supply agreement with a local distributor. This success story underscores how localization strategies and building trust-based networks can directly translate into expanded export opportunities.
Hong Heon-woo, a director at the Institute, remarked that WHX 2026 has affirmed that Korean medical devices are evolving into a global strategic industry. It is not just showcasing product competitiveness but also disseminating clinical expertise and educational systems. Its commitment is to provide comprehensive support for Korean companies entering Middle Eastern and other strategic markets.