The Turkish government is set to request bids beginning July 4 on a supply contract worth “hundreds of millions of dollars” for medical imaging and patient monitoring gear, according to Medtech Insight.

Plans call for Turkey to take bids on the 10-year contract, which is for a total of 54,593 devices, says the group. These include 7,412 ultrasound systems, 3,326 digital radiography systems, 438 CT scanners, 350 MR systems, and 43,327 patient monitoring systems.

They also state that “multinationals are teaming up with local manufacturing heavyweights to increase their chances of winning this tender.”

Turkey's healthcare reforms, which began with 2004's “Healthcare Transformation Program,” have led to both a “significant improvement in Turkey’s healthcare system,” and the growth of healthcare R&D and innovation, according to information on a Turkish government business website.

There have been a number key advances across the healthcare sector, including, regarding the medical device industry:

• The Turkish medical devices market passed $2.3 billion in 2016 with expected growth of about 6.7 percent annually through 2020.


• There are about 1,000 medical device manufacturers at work in Turkey – including clusters in the Istanbul, Ankara, and Samsun provinces.


• There are 29 new healthcare campus projects with a total bed capacity of 41,000 that will cater to increasing demand in the sector over the next several years.

The medical tourism industry saw patients rise from 74,000 in 2008 to almost 1 million in 2016, which will drive more demand for devices.

Turkey's medical device regulations are in keeping with EU directives.

This latest multi-million dollar deal builds on earlier ones struck with Turkish interests and healthcare multinationals.

In 2017, for example, Siemens Healthineers landed a five-year contract with two Turkish hospitals that was expected to be worth more than $108 million, and expected to serve more than 90 million patients, based on the anticipated test volumes at the time.

"This project combines our expertise in equipping laboratories with our service portfolio. It is a milestone for us and, at the same time, also a proof point for how we enable our customers to meet their current challenges and to excel in their respective environments," Bernd Montag, chief executive officer, Siemens Healthineers said in a statement at the time. "We have developed a customized solution for our partner DiA and the Turkish Ministry of Health that will comprehensively support their clinical business."

The hospitals were built and are run as a public-private partnership between DiA Holding and Turkish Ministry of Health. The facilities are located in Bilkent, Ankara, and in Mersin.

"It was important for us to have a partner that not only came with enough experience in the hospital environment, but also was strong on technical innovation," said Hakan Adanalı, director of Clinical Support Services at DiA.

Despite the present domestic turbulence in Turkey, as well as weakness of its currency, the country's economy appears to be strong, according to Forbes, and many in business are optimistic despite the country's political problems.

In an interview this month with Forbes contributor Mfonobong Nsehe, Turkey’s Minister of Economy, Nihat Zeybekci, said that his country had “recently introduced a new investment incentive package to support an expected $33 billion worth of investment in petrochemical, energy, health, manufacturing and agricultural industries.”

The minister called it “one of the most competitive investment incentives in emerging markets” and advised that both foreign and domestic projects “will be treated equally under the scheme.”