Aysha Yousef Al-Kandari

What have been the major milestones and developments for the company?

I joined Warba in 2013 and changed the way it was operating. Previously, it was like any other medical company in the country; it would choose one line of products and focus on them. We decided to change that because the local market is tiny, and the medical sector is extremely competitive, which forced us to think outside the box. We focused on specialized and patented equipment, and this made all the difference. We became a representative and agent for products, equipment, and devices that no one else could provide the market. We specialize in lab equipment and work closely with most of the centers in the country. This also includes electricity, agriculture, and academic research centers, not only medical. We have established ourselves as the provider of all the things medical and research a facility may need. Apart from Kuwait, we also work in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

What is your perspective on the present state of the healthcare sector in Kuwait?

It has a great potential but feels frozen at the moment. There has to be more development done and progress made to improve it. Public healthcare is dependent on the Ministry of Health, and public facilities are much better equipped than the private ones. The private sector is more focused on the quality of comfort, rather than specialized equipment. For us, the major client is the ministry. We provide it with all kinds of equipment, though since 2016, when politics started interrupting the healthy progress of the economy, the whole medical sector stalled. There has to be a vision and an action plan that will take the country forward. It would be great to see the government working toward a national vision.