National Chambers of Commerce tells Malaysia Ministry of Health to promote Medical Tourism

Tagged: asia, Malaysia, Medical Tourism

Malaysia needs to step up its marketing efforts of its medical tourism industry if it wants to catch up with Thailand and Singapore. This was the message of Datuk Syed Hussien Al-Habshee in his statement to the medical community in Malaysia. He is the Secretary General of the National Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (NCCIM).

Datuk made the statement after he personally saw how Thailand promoted its medical facilities and medical tourism industry in the International Tourism Market Conference held in Muscat, Oman.

Datuk said that although Malaysia is an Islamic country, sharing the same religion as most Middle Eastern countries, most of the patients from the Middle East still choose Singapore and Thailand over Malaysia as medical travel destination. Datuk, a former Ambassador to United Arab Emirates, said that the country’s religion should already serve as an advantage for Malaysia to attract Middle Eastern medical tourists. It is reported that in 2008, about 6000 medical tourists from the Middle East traveled to Thailand to receive medical treatment.

Apart from more intensive marketing, Datuk also said that there should be better integration when it comes to the efforts of the government agencies involved- the Ministry of Health, Ministry of International Trade, and Tourism Ministry- in promoting and developing the medical tourism in the country.