The 13th edition of Medical Fair Asia originally scheduled for September 9 – 11, 2020 has been postponed and will take place from December 9 – 11, 2020 at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. The region’s leading medical and healthcare trade fair focusing on the hospital, diagnostic, pharmaceutical, medical and rehabilitation equipment and supplies is organized by Messe Düsseldorf Asia and will now be strategically held concurrently with the OSH+Asia trade fair (occupational health and safety). This synergy was successful in earlier editions.

Rescheduling the trade fair was necessary due to the evolving COVID-19 situation including ongoing travel restrictions, tighter social distancing measures, suspension of all events and mass gatherings and most recently, the extension of the circuit breaker measures in Singapore announced by Singapore’s Multi-Ministry Taskforce.

Gernot Ringling, Managing Director, Messe Düsseldorf Asia, stated: “In close consultation with the MEDICAlliance global network of medical trade fairs – of which the exhibition is a part of - the decision to postpone MEDICAL FAIR ASIA was not made lightly as our partners, exhibitors and teams have worked extremely hard so far. However, as we consider the latest developments globally and in Singapore, we feel it is in the best interest of all involved to move the exhibition to the end of the year, as this will allow for maximum participation from regional and international businesses. We are extremely grateful for the support and understanding of our partners and exhibitors as we stay committed to take every possible measure to continue the successful status of the trade fair at the new dates. We look forward to welcoming the industry in December with the same trusted MEDICAL FAIR ASIA brand they have come to know, with qualified business visitors and top-quality sourcing, networking and thought-leadership platform.”

Given the nature of the Covid-19 pandemic, there’s very little knowledge about the disease and therefore about its impact.

“The global financial crisis was a period of uncertainty, but that was all a completely economic phenomenon, so one could make estimations,” he said. “There is a lot of uncertainty, unknowns that we are dealing with.”

He warned against calls for stimulus measures as large as 10% of GDP, or INR 20 lakh crore, and funding of that through monetisation or printing money.