Health freaks

by Kathryn SemcowJune 1st, 2008 | Editorial, Issue 8 June 2008

Drugs, doctors and the ills of taxation

The region seems to be health crazy these days. The UAE government has announced mandatory health insurance for all residents, Bahrain has said it is planning the same, and Saudi Arabia will soon require all pilgrims visiting its holy cities to be insured. And suddenly, thanks to a new government study, we have realised we’re not getting enough vitamin D.

More health awareness and healthcare insurance, means more prescriptions, which means more medicine. Someone is going to have to move all of these pills. Providers like Kuehne + Nagel are eager to tap into the pharmaceutical market, and Saudi-based Banaja International is spending big bucks to develop Pharma World, a 3PL designed specifically for drugs.

While outsourcing is presented as a less-expensive option, Gulf Pharmaceuticals (Julphar) based in Ras Al Khaimah has chosen to take care of its shipments to regional distribution centres by itself. The lucrative company has not yet decided, however, if it should outsource the transport from these distribution centres to the 2,000 pharmacies it is planning to develop in the coming year. Any 3PL who can earn their trust and grab this business could be in for some major cash.

And, in a twist of fate, we have a doctor on our cover. Mohammed Al Zarouni, who has his PhD in Economics, is better described as a doctor of free zones than a medical doctor; but he has, however, nursed Dubai Airport Free Zone in to one of the region’s healthiest. Hopefully, he can use his expertise to make Dubai Silicon Oasis a new hub for designing and manufacturing integrated circuits. But we will have to wait and see if this project will take Dubai into the next generation of technology, or if it will disappear into the sand like the now obsolete Saadiyat Free Trade Zone, once planned for Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island.

While Al Zarouni is against turning all of Dubai into a free zone, many expats may soon be wishing it were. I sense that the inevitable disease of taxation is on the way. Signs and symptoms are already showing, for example, the Salik toll on Dubai’s roads. A presenter from Dubai Customs at the recent event co-hosted by the SCLG even hinted that personal income tax will be implemented next year.

If the virus of taxation is to spread, I predict a wave of skilled workers heading home. Losing a percentage of income coupled with rising prices will make the cost of living in the Gulf outweigh the benefits. Could you and I be amongst these evacuees?

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