Bangladeshi Medical Market - Global Sales Mentor | Zach Selch

24 Apr 2020 · 3 min

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2:52

In this presentation, Zach Selch outlines the current state and growth potential of Bangladesh’s healthcare and medical‑device market. He notes a population of 160 million, with 37 % urban, and modest healthcare infrastructure (≈0.5 doctors and 0.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people). Health spending is about 4 % of GDP and the overall medical market is roughly $5 billion, while the medical‑device segment has been expanding at ~15 % CAGR over the past 5‑10 years. Selch emphasizes the market’s price sensitivity but draws a parallel to India’s early‑stage growth, arguing that a rising middle class will drive demand for higher‑quality, often American, products. He points out that regulations are relatively permissive, the distributor network is educated and capable, and a small elite of hospitals serves the top 10 % of the population—equivalent to twice the size of some European nations. The talk concludes with a call to action for companies seeking to expand international sales into Bangladesh.

Chapters

Let's talk about the Bangladeshi healthcare market. First of all, the market itself. 160 million people, growing quite rapidly, youthful population. About 37% of the population is urban, the rest is rural. About 0.5 docs per 1,000, about 0.8 beds per 1,000 in terms of hospitals. in terms of medical support. But this is growing every year. They spend about 4% of GDP on healthcare. The medical market is about $5 billion. It's really hard to say how much of that comes from the West, how much of that comes from places like Pakistan and China, but it's significant. And what we do know is the medical device market has been growing at about a 15% rate for the past 5, to 10 years. I think this is an extremely good potential market. It might be small today. It might be poor today. It's very, very price sensitive. But it looks to me like India did 20 years ago, where it was a great place to get in, get solid. The manufacturing sector in Bangladesh is growing every year. The middle class is growing every year. I tie up together in my mind very often the middle class, growing middle class, and healthcare. Because as people get better healthcare, They want— as people become more economically stable, as people enter the middle class, they want better healthcare. And when they want better healthcare, we can sell them better products. And there's room to sell in American products, in my opinion. People here love Americans. They're very friendly, very open towards America. The regulations at this point are not strict in terms of getting products in, getting things regulated, getting things introduced to the market. So the timing is pretty good to be getting into Bangladesh. They're a good core group of distributors here in Bangladesh. Very highly educated medical personnel here in Bangladesh. There's an educated core in the population and an elite core in the population. And you'll see this also represented by a small group of good hospitals. So, you know, when you take a look at a country like Bangladesh with 160 million people, if 16 million of them are in the top 10%, that's a pretty serious market. That's, you know, twice the size of, of some European countries. Okay? So remember, when you're ready to grow your international sales, reach out to us. We can help. When you decide it's time to grow your international sales, call us.