The Victorian minister for jobs, innovation and trade, Martin Pakula, officially opened AusMedtech 2019 in Melbourne this morning.
The minister acknowledged the significant and important contribution the Australian medical technology sector makes to the global market. He said the value of the global market is expected to reach an estimated US$400 billion by 2023.
"Australia and Victoria as a state also have the opportunity to develop an internationally competitive digital health industry sector," he said.
The digital health market is growing globally. It was valued at US$80 billion in 2015 and is expected to increase to over US$200 billion by 2020.
The minister acknowledged the sector's critically important contribution to Victoria and the value the conference brings through fostering relationships and information-sharing between cutting edge industry leaders, encouraging innovation and partnerships to deliver patient outcomes.
"It has never been a more important time (to invest in medtech) with population growth, the ageing population and growth of the middle classes," he said.
The minister said he was keen to hear from the sector and its partners to see how the industry can further build its investment in Victoria.
The minister expressed support for Johnson & Johnson Innovation and its new collaboration with MedTech Actuator to support health technology startups in Victoria.
He also discussed the Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) that celebrated a significant recent milestone, formally launching its operations in Victoria.
Mr Pakula said the MDPP is designed to add significant value to a rapidly growing medtech sector, strongly connecting university capabilities with health entrepreneurs.
"All of the institutions and organisations are absolute leaders in their field and having them all come together to support and promote medtech start-ups really promises a very exciting future for the industry," he said.
The national expansion of the MDPP has been supported by MTPConnect and the Growth Centres Initiative.
"The investment in medtech development and manufacture ultimately lowers the cost of health care and transforms the way services are delivered to patients globally and in Australia," he said.
He closed by saying, "It is great to be part of the innovation and trade medtech sector that has the ability to improve quality of life of people around the world as well as providing opportunities for Victorian students, well paid stable jobs into the future and supports the growth of the State and National economy."