Bangladesh wants US medical device makers to build local assembly plants and transfer technology, supported by a national healthcare budget of nearly Tk 70,000 crore. Retail News Asia first reported the push 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 shared the proposal during an industry roundtable in Dhaka arranged by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh in October 2026. AmCham President Syed Mohammad Kamal pointed to more than $5 billion in current investments and promised to help bring another $5 billion over the next five years.
Government leaders want foreign suppliers to set up local assembly units, train local engineers, and maintain equipment through its full lifecycle. The plan involves technical schools like Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and the University of Dhaka to grow local repair skills. Officials are also building a national digital monitoring dashboard to track how public hospitals use medical machinery.
Company executives at the meeting urged authorities to fix persistent administrative bottlenecks at the Directorate General of Drug Administration. Slow approval cycles and import delays currently hold up shipments of critical hospital equipment and spare parts. AmCham delivered five policy requests to make market access easier, including separate guidelines for medical hardware and clear registration deadlines.
Device suppliers deal with steep import duties on spare components and difficult customs rules when sending broken machinery abroad for repairs. Industry heads from GE HealthCare, Medtronic, and Becton Dickinson joined the talks along with US Embassy commercial counsellor Paul Frost and DGDA director general Md Alamgir Hossain. AmCham is setting up a technical workshop with the DGDA and Western device makers to write an international standard regulatory framework for hospital technology.