AmCham Pledges $5 Billion as Bangladesh Seeks US Healthcare Tie-Up
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Bangladesh is courting US medical device makers for local assembly and technology transfer, backed by a national healthcare budget of roughly Tk 70,000 crore. The push aims to draw multinational manufacturers deeper into domestic supply chains rather than relying purely on direct imports.
State Minister for Health and Family Welfare MA Muhit presented the proposal during an industry roundtable in Dhaka organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh in October 2026. AmCham President Syed Mohammad Kamal highlighted over $5 billion in existing investments and pledged to facilitate another $5 billion over the next five years.
What Dhaka Wants from US Tech Providers
Government officials want overseas suppliers to set up local assembly plants, train Bangladeshi engineers, and support equipment across its entire lifecycle. The initiative targets technical institutions including Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and the University of Dhaka to build domestic servicing capacity.
Dhaka is also preparing a national digital monitoring dashboard and e-health system to track how state hospitals use medical machinery. Muhit told company executives that procurement must shift toward transparent contracts and structured after-sales support.
Regulatory Roadblocks for Device Makers
Multinational executives at the meeting pressed the government to remove persistent administrative bottlenecks at the Directorate General of Drug Administration. Lengthy approval cycles and import frictions continue to delay shipments of critical hospital equipment and replacement parts.
AmCham submitted five specific policy demands to streamline market access. The business group called for separate DGDA guidelines for medical hardware, clear registration deadlines with parallel dossier reviews, and predictable maximum retail price formulas aligned with markup rules and the 7.5 percent value-added tax.
Supply Chain and Tax Reforms
Device suppliers face high import tariffs on spare components and burdensome customs procedures when sending damaged machinery abroad for maintenance. Industry leaders want tax rationalisation and simpler rules for re-exporting equipment for overseas repairs.
Country heads from GE HealthCare, Medtronic, and Becton Dickinson attended the discussions alongside US Embassy commercial counsellor Paul Frost and DGDA director general Md Alamgir Hossain. For foreign vendors, local assembly offers protection against currency swings and import restrictions, but high tariffs on sub-assemblies still erode operating margins.
The Next Regulatory Step
Dhaka previously lowered select healthcare duties to ease hospital costs, yet device classification rules remain tied to general pharmaceutical standards. That shared framework creates administrative backlogs because diagnostic hardware requires different safety certifications than consumer drugs.
AmCham is now organising a joint technical workshop with the DGDA and Western medical device manufacturers to draft an international-standard regulatory framework for hospital technology.