behind. Most of the hospitals, clinics and diagnostic labs are government owned. The government has invested heavily for the up gradation of the healthcare system in the country but the medical devices at most of the hospitals are old. With the decentralization of the healthcare sector, more hospitals are coming up and the existing ones are being upgraded. There is a huge opportunity in front of medical device companies to capitalize and expand into the Vietnamese market. The market has been majorly dominated by diagnostic imaging products, contributing ~%( USD ~ million) while consumable equipment contributed around ~%( USD ~ million) to the overall medical devices market. The large percentage of the medical devices was also contributed by orthopedic appliances & implants.
Pharmaceuticals Market
Vietnam has one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical markets in Asia. One of the main reasons for this is the significantly high population of the country which is entering the ageing stage at a very fast pace. With the growth of the economy the average income of the middle class has also increased and so has the demand for pharmaceutical products. The overall size of the pharmaceutical market has increased with a CAGR of ~% from USD ~ billion in 2012 to USD ~% in 2017. The government through its policies has tried to address the increasing demand of pharmaceutical products in the country, however there is a huge room for growth. Similar to the medical device market, the pharmaceutical market in Vietnam is also highly dependent on imports. Around ~% of the total pharma products consumed in the country are imported. Increasing rate and prevalence of lung and liver cancer, TB, HIV, respiratory, cerebrovascular and heart diseases among the growing population of the country has created high demand for generic and patented drugs. The pharmaceutical companies in the country mainly manufacture generic drugs by importing raw material from other countries. In context of therapeutic drugs, majority of the demand is to treat diabetes, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. However to develop the domestic pharmaceutical sector the government has initiated efforts to streamline the Foreign Direct Investment( FDI) into the industry. Foreign companies cannot directly enter the Vietnamese market; instead they need to partner with an indigenous company to distribute their products. The biggest pharmaceutical firms in the country are Hau Giang Pharmacy, Traphaco, Domesco, IMEXPHARM, and OPC.
Hospitals Market
Vietnam is in the phase of experiencing a structural change in hospital industry. Currently the country is dominated by the presence of government run hospitals and commune health stations. There are around ~ hospitals and ~ commune health clinics in the country out of which ~% are run by the government. However, in 2014 the government announced the plan to deregulate the hospital in order to support the already overburdened public hospitals in the country. Since liberalization a number of private hospital have already come up in the country