Gulf Offers Business Opportunity For Belfast

The Belfast subsidiary of the global healthcare corporation, Philips Healthcare, has won a £300,000 contract to supply its leading-edge cardiac management software to a major hospital in the Arabian Gulf following an Invest Northern Ireland trade mission.

The Belfast company, previously known as Tomcat Systems before its acquisition by Royal Dutch Philips earlier this year, is installing its software at the Zayed Military Hospital in Abu Dhabi, part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The contract, the company's first in the Gulf, was secured following leads identified during the Invest NI mission to markets in the oil rich region, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The contract for its software for hospital cardiac units was announced by John Neeson, International Marketing Manager of Philips Healthcare in Belfast, and welcomed by Alan Hingston, Invest NI's Trade Director.

Said Mr Neeson: "The contract with such a prestigious client as the Zayed Military Hospital gives us an important platform in a market which remains among the world's most buoyant.

"The contract is also a tremendous endorsement of our software by a leading cardiac centre in the Gulf and gives us an important reference site.

"The Gulf, furthermore, is a region where significant investment is being made in healthcare IT and great opportunities exist for companies offering the latest technology.

"The Invest NI trade mission enabled us to identify an agent that met our requirements and to demonstrate our unique solution for cardiac management to several potential clients.

"We are also now following up other leads that have developed since the mission," he said.

"The interest shown in the Gulf region in our technology solutions is immensely encouraging and we will be devoting the necessary time and resources to expand our business there," he added.

(BMcC)