Samir Kantaria

The 2025 Healthcare Odyssey

Welcome to the first edition of Law Update for 2025. As we begin this exciting year, we are pleased to turn our attention to one of the most dynamic sectors in the UAE and the broader GCC region – healthcare. Over the past several years, the region has seen unprecedented growth in this sector, driven by legislative advancements, technological innovations, and the increasing focus on sustainability and AI. As such, healthcare is set to be one of the most important sectors in the coming decade.

In this issue, we explore key themes that are significantly shaping the future of healthcare in the UAE, such as recent changes in foreign ownership laws. These reforms present a major opportunity for foreign investors, opening up new avenues for international collaborations and improving the overall healthcare infrastructure. The changes in ownership laws are an important milestone, and we provide an analysis of what this means for the industry and the various players involved.

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The leading law firm in the Middle East & North Africa region.

Samir Kantaria

Partner, Head of Employment & Incentives

Biography

Samir leads the firm’s Employment & Incentives practice which comprises the largest team of specialist employment lawyers in the Middle East. He advises on the full range of employment law issues, contentious and non-contentious, and Samir’s experience includes regularly advising major blue chip, multinational and semi-governmental companies in relation to their day-to-day employment queries. He combines technical expertise with business acumen and project management skills, and is known for giving pragmatic and commercial advice.

Samir is acknowledged as a Band 1 ranked lawyer by Chamber & Partners, as a Leading Individual in Legal 500, and is the only lawyer to be listed in Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Global Elite 2020 for UAE Labour & Employment.

Recent Experience

Providing employment input in respect of a transactions within the pharma sector being the two largest asset swap transactions worldwide to date.
Advising a leading global technology company in respect of the acquisition of a competitor and the resultant ongoing harmonization exercise.
Managing all the Middle East employment law issues arising from the acquisition by a telecoms hardware company of a global competitor.
Representing a multi-national chemical company in respect of unfair dismissal and discrimination claims brought in the UAE and the US;
Acting as Middle East and Africa employment law coordinator for a US multinational medical device, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods manufacturing company.