High-tech hospital at Port City
• The government has been able to woo an international hospital chain to invest in a high tech hospital at the Port City, said State Minister of International Trade, Sujeewa Senasinghe.
• He said that this will encourage medical tourism to Sri Lanka.
• In addition there will be several other state of the art facilities and numerous international projects in the Port City.
• The minister said China will aid the development of the Airport and Harbour which is closely located to each other.
The State Minister said that the construction of the facility will commence next month. “Before that we hope to bring proper legislature as there have been certain misconceptions regarding ownership of the land.
“It is in the government’s interest to turn the area into a separate business entity where the operation would be slightly different to the previously signed agreement,” he said.
Speaking about the Hambantota development projects the minister said they have managed to accomplish new terms for these project as well.
“Some of them include offering on a 99 year lease basis with China which will erase some of the country’s debt to China,” he said.
Senasinghe said that this public private partnership would be a profitable venture as it would create a number of business opportunities.
The project will focus on developing two areas: gas refinery and cement. Senasinghe said this is a very successful project where the entire economy will be promoted and the project will attract multinational companies and thus improve the country’s economy.
He said China and India has been having a certain friction between them in terms of business. Both countries has shown interest in making Sri Lanka a mediator between the two country’s to aid in future business deals.
Meanwhile commenting on the long overdue Volkswagen assembly plant, he said it will be put in to action within the next 6 months.
It was previously mentioned that a land in Kuliyapitiya has been successfully secured to facilitate the Volkswagen assembly plant in the country. The land will be handed over to M/S Senok Automobile Private Limited.
The total investment value of this project is US $ 26.5 million. Volkswagen will assemble 1,000cc to 2,000cc category of vehicles which includes passenger cars, sport utility vehicles (SUV), multi utility vehicles (MUV) or commercial vehicles.
These vehicles will be powered by diesel and marketed locally in the country for 3 years and will move towards exports as well.
OSL Take:
The promotion of medical tourism in Sri Lanka will be implemented through strategic marketing and the country’s inclusion in key International trade and tourism fares.
Sri Lanka wants to have a two-pronged approach for the promotion of medical tourism.
1. Promoting alternative medicine, i.e. Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Acupuncture to the Western Market
2. Promoting Western Medicine to the Asian region.
Medical tourism is the practice where people who live in one country travel to another, in order to receive medical and surgical care for a disease, ailment or to undergo cosmetic procedure.
In recent times, developing countries have become hot-spots for medical tourism due to various reasons.
They key reasons are:
• Relatively lower medical costs.
• Easy and better access with no waiting lists.
• Equal or greater care compared to one’s own country.
• Inadequate health insurance coverage in developed countries to cover the expensive medical costs in their own country.
• Technological and care standard upgrades, state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.
• Highly qualified consultants and medical staff.
• Renowned authentic and ancient practices in Ayurveda and Spa treatments.
Sri Lanka’s healthcare sector has undergone an enormous boom in recent years and is fast becoming a global health destination offering some of the best medical treatments in the world.
This is evident when considering the increasing percentage of foreign patients occupying beds in major city hospitals in the country throughout the year.
Sri Lanka is at a significant competitive advantage with its highly skilled and internationally trained medical doctors and specialists with extensive knowledge and experience.
The leading private sector hospitals in the island with its state-of- the-art medical facilities continue to develop rapidly to provide superior health care services to its local and foreign patients.
The Medical Tourism Global Market:
According to Patients Beyond Borders, with the medical travel market growing at a rate of 20% per year, the size is estimated at $ 55.0 billion, based on approximately 11 million cross-border patients worldwide.
It is also suggested that medical travellers spend an average of $ 3,500-5,000 per visit, including all medically related costs, cross-border and local transport, in-patient stay and accommodation. More than 10 million people worldwide are travelling abroad for treatment.
Cost Comparison – Asia (USD):
A regional cost comparison of treatments on offer in the fields of orthopaedics, dental, cosmetic and renal care versus current US rates.
Sources: 2013 MedicalTourism.com, Singapore Ministry of Health, MyMedHoliday.
Medical Tourism in Asia:
According to Nikko Asset Management, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, India and South Korea have actively promoted their services to international patients since the 1990s having identified medical tourism as an effective way to bring in foreign exchange.
Thailand and Singapore were the world’s top 2 medical destinations since 2012.
OSL strongly encourages potential overseas parties to set up shop in the island with our local expertise, to tap in to the leisure plus health hybrid tourism segment which is fast growing and becoming popular among the EU clients.
Feel free to ask for a consultation with the biz-friendly OSL Team now to learn more.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/08082016/Z-6 |