“I invite Japanese companies to come and do business in Panama. I especially look forward to working with more Japanese companies because I believe that Japanese equipment is the best,” said Alonso Diaz, CEO of Biomedical Support & Systems, Inc. The family-run business, set up in 1998, has been the exclusive distributor for Shimadzu X-ray machines in Panama for the past 12 years.
Since the partnership began, Biomedical Support & Systems has expanded its market share of X-ray machines to 75 percent of Panama’s public hospitals.
“Shimadzu’s reputation has been enhanced in Panama through excellent support and service from our company. The quality of service that we provide, together with the quality of the equipment itself, contributes greatly to adding value to the product and to the value of the brand as well,” said Diaz.
Biomedical Support & Systems is also the representative of Canon products in digital radiography, another relationship that asserts the company’s valuable role in introducing state-of-the-art medical technology to government hospitals in Panama and the rest of Central America.
As the second generation of his family prepares to join the company, Diaz has set his sights at further expansion.
“Nowadays, the economy of Panama is booming. The government is investing greatly in health care. Therefore, we can definitely see the current trend of increased government spending to have leading-edge medical technology. We strongly believe that our company is in a great position to focus on expansion. Our vision is to continuously grow the company into other areas of the medical field,” Diaz said.
Note: This Special Report on Panama originally appeared in The Japan Times on October 30, 2103 (Credit: Philippe Le Saux)