A Turkish medical firm aims to enter the Middle East market thanks to its new production plant.
Alvimedica will produce triple the amount of Turkey's stent usage in one year and export the rest, Leyla Alaton, president of the company, told Anadolu Agency (AA).
The company will produce 900,000 stents per year once the facility operates at full capacity as the new production facility will open next month in Turkey, Alaton said. A stent is a small metallic cage used for opening blockages in coronary arteries in order to prevent patients from suffering a heart attack.
Stating that the new facility will help the company to expand its markets abroad, Alaton added: "Unfortunately, especially diabetes on the rise in the Middle East and the importance of our product is better understood. Therefore, our way is clear."
The new plant will create jobs for 1,000 people, of which around 70 percent are expected to be women, Alaton said: "Due to nature of the business." Alaton noted that the size of the stent market in Turkey is around $120 million while it is $8 billion, or 10 million units, in the world.
Alvimedica's new stent production factory will also help to reduce the country's current account deficit by around $200 million to $300 million, according to company officials.
Touching on the Turkish government's focus on indigenization in medical technologies, Alaton said: "None of the administrations were sensitive to this issue. This is a new awakening for Turkey, which always depended on imports."
She added that Turkey's investment climate is highly beneficial and constructive. "I see 2019 as ‘take-off' year," she said.
Alvimedica received funding from the project-based incentive package unveiled by the government. In April 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the new set of incentives worth TL 135 billion. Alvimedica is among the 19 companies supported by the incentive package for 23 projects in the health, defense, metallurgy, electronics, automotive and agriculture sectors.
