Tax Exemption For Private Hospitals To Boost Medical Tourism - Liow

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 (Bernama) - The government will offer tax exemptions to all private hospitals that are willing to transform their institutions into medical tourism destinations. Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said that all hospitals will be required to improve the quality of services, especially in terms of comfort and space in hospitals, and the quality of the workforce.

He said that tax exemptions would also be granted to hospitals that received accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI) based on their quality of services to patients. "The tax exemption has been presented in the 2010 budget by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Now we are in discussions with the Ministry of Finance to formalise this tax and allow accredited hospitals to claim the tax exemption," he told reporters after opening the HSC Medical Centre at Menara HSC in Kuala Lumpur Friday.

Also present were the Medical Director of HSC Medical Center, Dr Soo Chee Siong, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), Dr Mary Wong. Liow said that Malaysia currently had eight hospitals accredited by the JCI, in addition to 41 private hospitals registered under the MHTC. He said the move was in line with government efforts to improve medical tourism destinations in the country, as well as the overall tourism sector.

Liow noted that the government is very committed in promoting Malaysia as a medical healthcare tourism destination and aims to attract more than 1.9 million medical tourists by 2020. "At the moment, we have about 400,000 healthcare travelers and I have committed myself to improve that number this year. We intend to increase total tourist arrivals by 10 per cent," he added.

He also pointed that in line with government efforts to promote healthcare tourism, existing advertising regulations and guidelines have been relaxed to accommodate the changing role of private hospitals in promoting healthcare travel. The MHTC is now exploring opportunities with industry players and local media to promote Malaysia's healthcare services in Hong Kong and China, Liow added.

-Bernama.