Image: Patient Room – Mayo Clinic – Cannon Falls, USA. Credit: dunhameng.com
Bali will seek to attract world-class hospitals to the island, adding quality medical treatments to the other tropical offerings for tourists from around the region.
According to a Nov. 1 regulation and a Bloomberg article this morning, Indonesia is ready to develop a 41-hectare area in Sanur, in the eastern part of Bali’s touristic southern area, as a special economic zone for health tourism, which companies setting up in the area could receive tax and non-tax incentives.
Health companies including US based Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic are looking to partner with the government to help Indonesia recoup some of the 97 trillion rupiah ($6.2 billion) in national losses due to outbound medical tourism each year.
Around 2 million Indonesians travel to countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Australia and even as far as the U.S. for treatment due to trust and capacity issues with the local health system.
“It is hoped these international health facilities will absorb 4%-8% of Indonesians who usually seek treatment abroad,” Elen Setiadi, acting general secretary at the SEZ National Council, told Bloomberg on Wednesday.
State-owned PT Hotel Indonesia Natour, which owns the designated area, will develop Sanur into a health tourism hub within 3 years. Companies including Hotel Indonesia and state-run hospital holding company Pertamina Bina Medika will invest around 10.2 trillion rupiah to build health facilities, hotels, a convention center and a botanical garden that reflects local medical practices.
By 2045, the country expects to gain up to $1.25 billion of foreign-currency earnings from medical tourism, said Setiadi.
