I believe med tech is the next big thing for the health sector – Miriam Dalli

Miriam Dalli, Malta’s Minister for environment, energy, and enterprise shared her thoughts on the future of Malta’s med tech sector in a keynote. She addressed the crowd during the second day of the Med-Tech World Summit, which took place at the MCC, Valletta.

Strengthening the med tech industry

Dalli starts out by expressing her amazement at how far technology is advancing – this, she says, is how we can combine the medical, tech and enterprise sectors.

“We are on the lookout to attract new companies to Malta – we’re here to help you, to make sure we can collaborate further. Malta is committed to furthering this assistance and further strengthening this industry – we want it to flourish.”

She goes on to say that our country, and many others, is standing at a crossroads – we have to push forward the green transition, the digital transition, in order to reach our carbon neutral target for 2050.

The role of digitalisation is extremely important. As a country we need to do more and continue building on the work that has been done.  She emphasised that there must be a focus on continued innovation of the economy, and that we need to ensure this trickles into every economic sector we have.

The healthcare industry may be another carbon emitter but Miriam looks at it as the most diverse and innovative sector – which is why, she says, digitalisation should be at the forefront of this industry. 

“I believe medtech is the next big thing for the health sector.”

Pushing forward digitalisation in healthcare

She explains that innovative solutions that really work can actually address the health bills every country has to invest in. By pushing forward in digitalisation in health care we have the potential of not just becoming a sustainable carbon neutral country but providing better healthier populations for years to come. The future of med tech is endless. It can save patients’ lives, support professionals in their work and improve healthcare systems.

The average global research and development investment rate equates to 8% in this sector. As she explains, that means that as a country we need to do more and continue building on the work that has been done. 

“Our country needs industries like this one to flourish so we can reach both our economic and sustainability targets.

“The med tech sector aligns perfectly with our business landscape. 92% of all med tech companies are SME’s and a number of them are startups we are particularly interested in this sector. These are the type of business the economy is composed of and are on the lookout for. This is exactly the demographic we as a government aim to target.”