The special guests present during the virtual Inaugural session were Mr. Pradeep Multani, Sr.  Vice President, PHDCCI, H.E. Mr. Ung Sean, Ambassador, Royal Embassy of Cambodia, H.E. Mr. Bounneme Chouanghom, Ambassador, Embassy of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, H.E. Dr. Ahmed A. R Albanna, Ambassador, Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, Mrs. Rony Yedidiya-Clein, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Israel in India and Dr. Do Thanh Hai, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The other dignitaries present were Mr. Arvind Varchaswi, Chair, AYUSH Committee, PHD Chamber & MD, Sri Sri Tattva, Mr. Nishant Berlia, Chair, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing & Medical Devices Committee, PHDCCI & Co Promoter, Apeejay Stya & Svran Group (Martin & Harris Pvt. Ltd.), Dr. Sameer Gupta, Co-Chair, Health Committee, PHDCCI & Director, Cathlab, Metro group of Hospital, Mr. Jitender Sodhi, Co-Chair, AYUSH Committee, PHD Chamber & CMD, AYUSH Herbs and the session was moderated by Mr. Vivek Seigell, Assistant Secretary General, PHDCCI.

The session commenced with the Presidential Address by Mr. Multani in which he mentioned about the various initiatives PHD Chamber is taking to support the Industry members during the challenging Covid times. He added that the pandemic accelerated one of the largest trends in healthcare today: the movement of high-quality healthcare from the hospital and into homes and the community. This second edition of International (Virtual) Health & Wellness Expo & Conferences will bring opportunity to bring the opportunity to interact with the stalwarts of Health & Wellness industry for Innovative products & solutions. He added that this is the right platform for all the stakeholders from Pharma, medical devices, healthcare delivery, AYUSH and wellness to showcase core Indigenous capacities and seek opportunities for collaborations to enhance capacities and market reach.

H.E. Dr. Ahmed A. R Albanna in his remarks thanked PHDCCI for organizing the International health And Wellness Expo & Conference. He mentioned about strong trade & commerce ties, cultural and people to people relationships between UAE and India. In today’s conference he said that there are lot of opportunities of collaboration in healthcare security between India and UAE and their Government is thinking intensively on it. His Excellency said that with the rising initiatives of the UAE Government, significant deals in the healthcare and the pharma sectors are also evolving majorly.  He highlighted that Medical and Pharma sectors play a vital role in the economies of both the countries and there are immense opportunities waiting to be explored in the B2B, Govt to Govt, Govt to Business as well as between different stakeholders. Dr Albana also mentioned about the increasing interest in Ayush, Yoga and Ayurveda and other natural therapies in the UAE. He applauded India’s support in providing the AstraZeneca Vaccine and sending its medical staff to UAE during total lockdown.

H.E. Mr. Ung Sean, Ambassador, Royal Embassy of Cambodia congratulated and appreciated the support given by the Government of India during the COVID pandemic for supplying COVID vaccine to Cambodia and sought the support of the Indian Govt in getting over 4 million doses of the vaccine for which their Govt had approached the Indian Govt.

H.E. Mr. Bounneme Chouanghom, Ambassador, Embassy of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic congratulated & appreciated PHD Chamber for organizing the virtual exhibition and gathering all the stakeholders on one platform and assured for future collaboration.

Mrs. Rony Yedidiya-Clein expressed her appreciation to PHD Chamber for organizing such collaborative events gathering all the stakeholders on one platform.  She gave an overview of the Israeli technologies, which have their roots in a long history of using innovative technologies to improve healthcare delivery. Today, Israel continues to invest significantly in IT, with over 450 Israeli companies in the field of Digital Health targeting different technology and therapeutic scopes.

Dr. Do Thanh Hai in his remarks congratulated PHD Chamber for the virtual Health & Wellness expo and mentioned that hoped that the next fair will take place in a physical form. Dr. Do Thanh Hai also mentioned that India always ranks in the list of top 10 trade partners of Vietnam while Vietnam is the 17th trade partner of India. Although heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, the Vietnam – India bilateral trade in 2020 will still reach about 10 billion USD.

He further said that improving health & early diagnosis is very important, including traditional medicine measures and India has long been known as a country with a long tradition of traditional medicine, especially Yoga which is very famous in Vietnam. He further suggested that two sides have to study the direction of cooperation of the Institute of Traditional Medicine of India with the Institute of Traditional Medicine of Vietnam in training, exchanging examination experiences, and Healing.

During the AYUSH industry remarks by given by Mr. Arvind Varchaswi, he shared significance of Health & Wellness in India. He mentioned that wellness addresses the broader spectrum of your body encompassing the overall balance of your physical, mental and spiritual well-being.  He said, the current pandemic has created new opportunities for the Industry to have a global presence of AYUSH systems. He further mentioned that during the COVID period there has been lot of research & clinical trials registered by entire AYUSH system.

Mr. Nishant Berlia delivered Pharmaceutical Industry remarks during which he said that India is the largest vaccine producer in the world and also the largest provider of generic medicines globally. India provides strong ecosystem for the pharmaceutical industry growth through innovation & R&D, Quality services at marginal costs in Medical Tourism, highest number of US-FDA compliant plants outside the US, expertise in low cost generic patented drugs and a movement towards end-to-end manufacturing with a strong domestic demand. With the approval of Production Linked Incentive Scheme for pharmaceuticals & permission of 100% FDI through automatic route, India will be a hub for pharmaceutical industry.

Dr. Sameer Gupta thanked all the special guests for their virtual presence and mentioned about the Production Linked Incentive Scheme approved by Government of India; a well appreciated step towards making India an Aatmanirbhar Bharat by enhancing the domestic manufacturing capacities and also enhancing the exports. Dr. Sameer also mentioned about the world’s largest Government funded scheme- Ayushman Bharat and shared to give more focus on penetration & betterment of rural health.

Mr. Jitender Sodhi thanked all esteemed guests & Industry Members for joining Inaugural session and sparing their valuable time. He also thanked Various Government Ministries for their continuous support & all Sponsors & Association partners, Media Partner for their partnership to make this a grand success.

The Inaugural Session was attended by 250 plus delegates virtually.