Medical device sector thrives with trade surplus, growing foreign investment

Focus Malaysia

17 hours ago

MALAYSIA has a strong exporting power for medical devices. Unlike pharmaceuticals, Malaysia is largely a net exporter of medical devices.
These are mainly consumables, diagnostics equipment and patient aids. Imports, meanwhile, shown a steady growth, a signal that Malaysia's healthcare demand for advanced medical technologies and equipment continue to grow.
Malaysia consistently maintains a significant trade surplus in medical devices, highlighting the medical device sector as a key contributor to Malaysia's overall trade balance.
While gloves constituted a large portion of the total medical device exports, non-glove exports overtook the total export for 2022 onwards.
This shift is crucial as it indicates that Malaysia's efforts to diversify its medical device manufacturing base beyond gloves are bearing fruit.
The significant growth in non-glove exports means the industry is becoming more resilient and less dependent on a single product category.
This aligns with national goals of strengthening innovation capacity and moving up the value chain.
As of quarter one of 2025, the total investment value in medical devices reached RM26.3 mil, spread across about 180 projects.
Foreign investments had a slight upper hand in the medical devices' investment landscape, notably during post-Covid.
This may suggest that, as global supply chains had normalized, foreign companies re-engaged with investment plans in Malaysia.
The swings between DDI and FDI dominance also reflects specific government incentives in healthcare investments, promising global economic conditions for the subsector, and strategic shifts by both local and international players.
On average, FDI dominated at 52.2% of the total investments.
AI-based equipment and devices are expected to see a surge in demand, with market size projected to grow up to USD220 mil by 2030, at a very high five year compounded annual growth rate of 45.4%.
The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) had taken significant steps to include AI technology under its medical devices' regulations.
The AI must be a medical device that uses machine learning (ML), in part or in whole, to achieve its intended medical purpose.
The AI is expected to be under the jurisdiction of Section 2 of the Medical Device Act 2012 (Act 737).
We believe this update to the regulatory framework is timely, aligning with the government's National Health Missions, Healthcare White Paper and NIMP 2030, as well the rapid growth in AI utilization in everyday life.
Other drivers include:
(i) Increasing healthcare data volume.
(ii) Shortage of skilled healthcare professionals.
(iii) Growing demand for cost reduction and operational efficiencies.
(iv) Increased focus on personalized and preventive healthcare.
While traditional clinical data remains paramount, there is a clear and accelerating trend in integration between data and technology, aiming towards incorporating real-world data from remote care, advanced 'omics' technologies for personalized insights, and external factors that shape an individual's health.
This multi-faceted approach to data collection and analysis is crucial for developing more proactive, preventive, and personalized model.
The ability to collect, integrate, and analyse these diverse data streams is paving the way for precision health, predictive analytics and more.
However, the trends clearly indicate a future where digital data will be the bedrock of a more intelligent, efficient, and patient-centred healthcare system. —Aug 4, 2025
Main image: Stanton Chase