Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this activity cover?
It covers the trading of medical and surgical equipment and instruments including diagnostic devices, surgical tools, patient monitors, and specialty equipment for hospitals and clinics.
Who are the typical customers?
Hospitals, specialist clinics, diagnostic centres, dental practices, dialysis units, aesthetic clinics, and other healthcare facilities requiring diagnostic, surgical, and patient-care equipment.
Is product registration required for the items sold?
Yes. Specific medical equipment products typically require registration with relevant UAE health authorities. This is a product-level requirement separate from the trade license itself.
Can I sell to both government and private hospitals?
Yes. The trade license supports sales to both government healthcare entities and private hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare providers in the UAE.
Is approval required for activity 4773.b1 specifically?
No third-party approval is required for activity 4773.b1. The activity is also exempt from AML compliance requirements.
How to Start a Medical, Surgical Equipment and Instruments Trading Business with Meydan Free Zone
The UAE has built medical infrastructure at a remarkable pace. New hospitals open every year. New specialty centres for cardiology, orthopaedics, oncology, and IVF open every quarter.
Behind every consultation room is a stethoscope someone supplied; behind every operating theatre, a tray of instruments. Medical and surgical equipment trading is the supply line for everything that gets used between admission and discharge.
Medical equipment is a substantial market in the UAE. The diagnostic imaging segment alone is worth USD 177.54 million in 2026, forecast to reach USD 238.15 million by 2031 at a CAGR of 6.05 percent, with 214 Joint Commission International-accredited facilities anchoring demand, according to Mordor Intelligence¹.
Behind that growth is a wider build-out of healthcare infrastructure: Dubai Healthcare City alone is rolling out a Dh1.3 billion development plan, with a new purpose-built medical complex housing surgical, laboratory, and diagnostic facilities at its core, according to Khaleej Times².
For an equipment trading business, the customer base is well-defined and the procurement cycles are predictable.
Medical equipment trading rides on hospital infrastructure cycles. As the UAE expands its healthcare capacity, the demand for diagnostic, surgical, and patient-care equipment scales accordingly.
Sources: Mordor Intelligence (2026); Khaleej Times (2025).
A medical and surgical equipment trading business supplies the instruments and devices that healthcare facilities use to diagnose, treat, and monitor patients. It is a focused supply business: a defined range of diagnostic, surgical, and patient-monitoring equipment, sold to hospitals, clinics, and specialist centres that need it to operate.
Hospitals expanding their inventories, specialty centres opening new wings, dental clinics installing chairs, and aesthetic centres equipping treatment rooms all rely on these businesses for their core capital and operational equipment.
Look at what gets installed in a new UAE hospital before it opens its doors. The procurement officer has been planning for years. A 256-slice CT scanner. An MRI suite with the latest software. Ultrasounds for the radiology department.
Surgical lights and operating tables for theatres. Patient monitors for the ICU. ECG machines for cardiology. Dental chairs for the dental wing. Equipment trading is the supply line for every one of those purchases, plus the steady stream of replacements, upgrades, and add-ons that follow once a facility opens.
In a country building healthcare capacity faster than almost any other in the region, that supply line stays busy.
From the ICU to the operating theatre, medical equipment trading is the supply side of how UAE healthcare keeps growing.
Who is this for?
- Medical equipment distributors: Operators of distribution businesses supplying medical equipment and devices to UAE healthcare facilities.
- Surgical instrument traders: Businesses trading in surgical instruments, operating-theatre equipment, and specialty surgical tools.
- Diagnostic and imaging equipment specialists: Traders focused on diagnostic, imaging, and patient-monitoring equipment for hospitals and clinics.
Meydan Free Zone offers 100% foreign ownership, zero percent corporate tax on qualifying income, full profit repatriation, and a fully digital licensing process, providing a regulated and cost-efficient base from which to operate a medical and surgical equipment trading business in the UAE's expanding healthcare market.
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4773.b1 - Medical, Surgical Equipment & Instruments Trading
Under this activity, your business is licensed to trade in medical and surgical equipment and instruments.
The activity is specifically for trading in medical and surgical equipment and instruments. Retail sale of medical consumables and articles, retail sale of pharmaceuticals, the manufacture of medical equipment, and the operation of healthcare facilities themselves each fall under separate activities.
The line is precise. If your business trades in medical and surgical equipment and instruments, you are in. If you operate a pharmacy, manufacture medical equipment, run a healthcare facility, or trade in medical consumables only, a different activity applies.
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Third-Party Approval: No third-party approval is required for this business activity.
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance: This business activity is exempt from AML compliance requirements.
Citations
¹ Mordor Intelligence. United Arab Emirates Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Market Size and Share. Mordor Intelligence, 2026.
² Khaleej Times. Dubai to Get New Medical Complex as Part of Dh1.3-Billion Healthcare City Plan. Khaleej Times, 2025.
