Growth expected for medical tourism in Malaysia

The Malaysian Health Ministry aims to leverage on the country's positioning as an affordable and comprehensive healthcare hub, targeting to attract more than 437,000 medical tourists and generating about US$143 million for this year.

For 2010, the total number of healthcare travellers was at 392,956, with income generated for the sector reaching approximately US$125 million.To boost the country's healthcare travel industry, the Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council has plans to introduce significant players to drive the industry to a higher level.

To support this, the government has announced that they would provide tax exemptions equivalent to 100% of qualifying capital expenditure incurred for the construction of new hospitals or for the modernisation or expansion of existing hospitals in the country.

Source = 4hoteliers