
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong said the nation was strategically located in the ASEAN region to tap the growing number of travellers seeking quality healthcare treatment.
“We are targeting one million health travellers this year which is expected to generate some RM1 bil in revenue. The goal is to see healthcare travellers generating RM4.2 bil by 2020,” he said.
This increased to 882,000 in 2014 generating RM777 mil in revenue and last year, 859,000 healthcare tourists brought in RM914 mil.
Lee added that his ministry would liaise with relevant agencies such as the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) to look at ways to promote the industry’s growth further.
Malaysia ranks among the top three destinations in Asia for medical tourism with travellers from Indonesia (62%), the Middle East (7.4%), India (3%), China (2.6%), Japan (2.6%) and Australia, New Zealand and Britain (2.5%).
/theSTAR 07-10-2016
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