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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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Published: Mar 1, 2020

UAE and Kuwaiti Authorities Issue Circulars Concerning Measures Against COVID-19

On Thursday 26 February 2020, the UAE’s Federal Transport Authority (the “FTA”) issued Circular No. 2 of 2020 concerning measures against the coronavirus threat. Pertinently, the circular states that:

  1. ferry services between the UAE and Iran have been suspended until further notice from the FTA; and
  2. Ship Masters are advised to, at least 72 hours before calling UAE ports, send to the port authorities, a Maritime Declaration of Health with his/her undertaking that “no crew member is suffering from any symptoms suggestive of corona virus illness.“

A day earlier on 25 February 2020, Kuwait’s Ministry of Communications published Circular No. 3 of 2020 entitled “NOVEL CORONAVIRUS ALERT”. This circular instructs that all Kuwaiti sea ports are:

  1. prohibited from receiving foreign-flagged vessels arriving from China, Hong Kong, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand (the “Highlighted States”); and
  2. not to allow any person regardless of nationality to enter Kuwait, if s/he was in any of the Highlighted States in the two weeks immediately before his/her arrival in Kuwait.

Please get in touch if you require legal advice. Our team of lawyers in 17 offices across nine countries in the Middle East would be available to assist.Kuwait had also earlier in the same week made similar prohibitions on arrivals of ships and persons from Iran. Government and port authorities in the Middle East have recently been issuing directives to combat the spread of the coronavirus via official circulars and the general media, and we expect this trend to continue. We therefore recommend members of the maritime community to stay in touch with various information platforms and their agents.

 

Key Contacts:

Omar Omar
Partner, Head of Transport & Insurance – UAE
o.omar@tamimi.com

Gabriel Yuen
Associate, Transport & Insurance
g.yuen@tamimi.com