JAKARTA: Indonesia has launched its first medical tourism special economic zone in Sanur, on the resort island of Bali, marking a major step in the country’s efforts to develop world-class healthcare services integrated with tourism.
In recent years Indonesia has been working to reform its healthcare sector to improve service standards and reduce the outflow of Indonesians seeking treatment overseas, including in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, who spend up to 150 trillion rupiahs ($9.2 billion) abroad annually.
The Sanur medical tourism zone will include a range of facilities, including an international hospital, specialist clinics, medical research centers and a garden with over 380 medicinal plant species.
“I think this is the first of its kind in our country — we envisioned creating a special economic zone offering world-class healthcare services,” President Prabowo Subianto, who inaugurated the project on Wednesday, said during his speech.
Indonesia, a country of more than 270 million people, has about seven doctors for every 10,000 people, according to World Health Organization data. This is below Thailand with nine doctors, the Philippines with eight doctors and Australia with 41 doctors per 10,000.
