PROSPECTS FOR HEALTHY BEAUTY

Public demand for products and services of the beauty industry is growing in Azerbaijan. It is common knowledge that an increase in the consuming power leads to greater spending on cosmetics and perfumery, body care and hygiene products, etc., and this applies not only to the medium price segment.

The demand of consumers for luxury cosmetics is increasing as well. Moreover, there is steady demand for the services provided by beauty salons, spa centers and aesthetic medicine centers supplied with the most up-to-date equipment.

Taking into consideration the fact that Azerbaijan is a promising sales market, many cosmetics brands and healthcare companies have included the country in one of the priority directions in their business development. This positive trend was clearly confirmed by the International Healthcare Exhibition (BIHE), which started recently at the Baku Expo Centre. The event was organized by the British company ITE and Iteca Caspian, its partner in Azerbaijan.

BIHE, which is the only medicine and health exhibition in the region, has turned into a venue for meetings between representatives of state-run organizations, equipment manufacturers and producers of medical products, as well as physicians and medical industry specialists. Besides Iteca Caspian, organizers of the exhibition include Azerbaijan's Ministry of Health, Azerbaijan Stomatology Association, Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) and the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations.

In addition to BIHE, the 8th Azerbaijan International Stomatology Exhibition and the 7th international medical beauty and aesthetics exhibition, Beauty Azerbaijan 2013, took place.

Traditionally, the exhibition featured a wide range of medical products and services. This year, the event brought together companies from Azerbaijan, the United States, Germany, Belarus, Italy, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and other countries. Also, for the first time, the Czech Republic presented a national exposition at the initiative of its Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The exhibition manager, Elmira Agayeva, said the exhibition has several objectives.

"The latest workings in the beauty industry are on display, and those interested are using this platform for further cooperation," Agayeva said.

The Beauty Azerbaijan 2013 exhibition presented the products and technologies widely used in beauty salons, fitness clubs, spa centers and hairdressing salons. Visitors had a chance to see professional cosmetics, body care, skin and hair care products, equipment for beauty salons and spas, medical cosmetics, etc.

The event was joined by a total of 100 companies from 17 world countries, including Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, etc. Leading Azerbaijani companies accounted for 60 percent of the exhibition participants and foreign firms made up 40 percent. Visitors were very interested in the exhibitors from the Czech Republic, whose national stand was represented by eight companies.

"We arranged the official participation of Czech companies in the BIHE 2013 exhibition with the state support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. The participating companies are engaged in the production of medical equipment and health care services," says Lenka Koutska, Projects Manager for the ministry's department for support to exports.

This year, for the first time, the exhibition featured the medical tourism sector, which presented clinics and medical treatment institutions from around the world.

An extensive exposition of foreign medical centers based in Baku allowed the visitors to take stock of and compare a wide variety of medical services offered abroad. The exposition of medical tourism was arranged as part of the BIHE exhibition with the support of the international Medical Tourism Association and the Medical Tourism Association of Turkey. A total of 14 companies participated in the activities relating to medical tourism. By the way, a day before the BIHE opening Azerbaijani Health Ministry spokesman Anar Qadirli said Azerbaijan also intends to pursue the path of medical tourism development as this sector is very profitable. 

"It is therefore crucial for all medical institutions of Azerbaijan to be provided with the most up-to-date equipment," Qadirli said. "For this purpose, tenders for the supply of medical equipment have been conducted in Azerbaijan among leading world companies for several consecutive years." 

Moreover, high-level health care is among the important factors in this respect, so, there is surely something to aspire towards.