GEORGE TOWN: Malaysia has set its sights on middle-class tourists from Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Sri Lanka, China and India to boost its medical tourism industry.

At present, Indonesian tourists contribute to the bulk of the business in medical tourism, with Penang and Malacca the popular destinations for treatment.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said he was optimistic that middle-class tourists from other parts of the world would seek medical treatment here as Malaysia promised first-class medical services at affordable prices.

He said the government had recently set up the National Health Tourism Council, co-chaired by him and Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, to see how best Malaysia could capture the medical tourism market.
 

"Of late, there had been more and more middle-class people emerging in such countries who are willing to pay a little more for the best medical treatment and this is where we can come in. This is our market," he said after officiating at the topping-up ceremony of the Gleneagles Medical Centre here.

Present were Parkway Pantai Limited chairman Datuk Mohammed Azlan Hashim, Pantai Holdings Bhd chairman Khairil Anuar Abdullah, Gleneagles Medical Centre chairman Datuk Seri Dr Goh Eng Toon and Gleneagles Medical Centre chief executive officer Ronald Koh.

The new RM180 million 19-storey building is linked to the existing centre.

Upon completion by the third quarter of next year, it will become an iconic premier hospital of 400 beds with modern wards complete with innovative facilities to enhance patient comfort.

The new facility will have 10 operating theatres, 35 intensive care, coronary care and high dependency units, and an additional cardiac catheterisation laboratory.

Earlier in his speech, Nor Yakcop said the new facility would create more than 700 jobs, ranging from doctors and nurses to allied health support staff.

He said Gleneagles Medical Centre was also targeting RM100 million in foreign revenue for the next five years.

Read more: Malaysia eyes world’s middle class for medical tourism http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/13jus/Article/#ixzz1b0ypmhUQ