Why Bangladesh must treat medical devices as an industry

I always raise a simple question: if Bangladesh can produce and meet 98% of its pharmaceutical demand, why can it not do the same for medical devices, where the country still relies on imports for nearly 90% of its needs?

Every year, Bangladesh spends an estimated $500–$600 million importing medical devices and that figure is rising steadily. This is not just a drain on foreign exchange. It is a missed opportunity to build an industry with strong export potential, skilled employment prospects and strategic importance for national health security.

Medical devices are not a niche segment. Globally, the market is already worth more than $650 billion and is projected to reach $955 billion by 2030, driven by chronic diseases, ageing populations, rising health awareness, the integration of artificial intelligence and regulatory reforms in major markets. Countries such as China and India have positioned themselves as dominant exporters. Bangladesh, despite its manufacturing success in pharmaceuticals and other sectors, remains largely absent.

I have been involved in this sector since 1999. Over these years, I have repeatedly tried to convince successive governments that medical devices can and should be recognised as a full-fledged industry. Not just to save foreign exchange through import substitution, but also to earn it through exports. Unfortunately, policy recognition has remained limited.

The irony is that Bangladesh already has proven capacity.

When the world was rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, many countries faced an unexpected bottleneck: a shortage of syringes. Bangladesh was an exception. JMI supplied around 30 crore syringes within just five months, ensuring uninterrupted vaccination at a critical moment. We also produced K95 masks, demonstrating that local manufacturers can scale up quickly when needed.

A pandemic can come anytime. Preparedness cannot be improvised at the last minute. Without a strong domestic medical devices industry, future health emergencies will expose dangerous vulnerabilities.

Today, the medical devices landscape in Bangladesh is small but growing. The sector serves a healthcare system that has expanded alongside economic growth, rising incomes and a shift from communicable to non-communicable diseases. According to World Bank estimates, the medical devices market in Bangladesh could reach $822 million by 2025, with a long-term potential of $3 billion by 2030 if the right policies are in place.

JMI Group's experience reflects both the promise and the constraints of the sector. JMI is among the country's leading diversified groups, with operations spanning pharmaceuticals, medical devices, healthcare, engineering, garments, logistics and education. In medical devices, we have attracted foreign direct investment and technical partnerships from companies in Japan, South Korea, Turkey and China, enabling joint ventures and local manufacturing.

Our flagship medical device company, JMI Syringes & Medical Devices Ltd, began commercial operations in 2002 and was the first in Bangladesh to locally produce auto-disable syringes under UK technical collaboration. Today, it manufactures a range of syringes, infusion sets, IV cannulas and blood transfusion kits, holding certifications such as WHO PQS, CE marking and ISO. The company supplies 100% of AD syringes used in national immunisation programmes and meets about 60% of domestic syringe demand, producing roughly 140 million syringes annually.

Other group companies manufacture hospital requisites, surgical gloves, sterilizers and diagnostic accessories, while joint ventures export blood tubing sets to more than 30 countries across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. These are not experiments; they are commercially viable operations built with long-term investment and bank financing.

Yet progress remains constrained by the absence of a comprehensive policy framework.

Medical devices are still not clearly recognised as an industry in the way pharmaceuticals or garments are. As a result, manufacturers do not consistently receive industry-level incentives, such as lower-cost bank financing, tax holidays, or targeted export support. Tariff structures are often misaligned, making raw materials more expensive than finished imports. Regulatory pathways lack clarity and predictability.

Bangladesh also risks wasting its human capital. Each year, hundreds of biomedical engineers graduate with limited opportunities to apply their skills locally. A stronger domestic manufacturing base could absorb this talent while raising quality and innovation standards.

What is needed now is not ambition, but alignment. Recognising medical devices as a priority industry, reforming tariffs, strengthening DGDA's regulatory framework, and establishing dedicated industrial zones could unlock scale and competitiveness. Entrepreneurs who have already invested hundreds of crores of taka and taken substantial financial risks need policy certainty, not ad hoc support.

Bangladesh has shown, time and again, that it can build globally competitive industries when policy, regulation and entrepreneurship move in the same direction. Medical devices should be the next frontier—not only for economic reasons, but for national resilience.

The question is no longer whether we have the capacity. The question is whether we have the will. 

Based on an interview with TBS Deputy Editor Sajjadur Rahman

Md Abdur Razzaq is the Founder and Managing Director of JMI Group