WATERFORD — Representatives from Oakland County and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. are leaving Sunday for Dubai to promote Medical Main Street and Michigan-based life science companies at one of the largest medical conferences in the world.
The county was invited because the traction the Medical Main Street name is getting nationally and internationally, County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said.
“More than 57,000 people from as far away as Norway and Japan followed INNO-VENTION 2012, our inaugural Medical Main Street conference last year,” said Patterson. “We were invited to join the state in Dubai because of the strength of Medical Main Street. We are working diligently to make it a global brand and believe this is a wonderful opportunity.”
Deputy county executive Matthew Gibb will represent the county at the conference called Arab Health, which is expected to attract 70,000 people and 3,500 exhibitors. He will be there for five days.
“This is one of the largest medical conferences in the world,” Gibb said. “Our hope is to introduce the brand of Medical Main Street to an international audience and show that the rapid expansion of health care and the life sciences in Dubai is a market our Medical Main Street companies can service. We want to help our companies grow.”
Gibb will join the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and representatives from west Michigan in the U.S. Pavilion. He plans to meet with senior government officials to develop a relationship that could lead to future export business for Oakland County companies. He said a recent trip by Automation Alley proved to be among the most successful the Alley has ever taken.
“We believe this is an unbelievable export market,” Gibb said. “My job is to find that connection for our companies.”
