11-Jan-17 With Malaysia emerging as the number one country in the world for healthcare, the government is working to secure MYR1 bn (USD225 mn) to expand its medical industry. Already doing well in medical tourism, Penang would be focusing on turning itself into a medical city. Malaysia was recently named number one in the world for healthcare by International Living magazine. [image: Free Malaysia Today]

11-Jan-17 Under pressure Thailand is seeking new markets and promoting health checks. Thailand is under pressure from competition and weaker economies in key source regions - Russia and Middle East. The government is beginning to move promotional efforts to newer markets of China and Indochina. [image: IMTJ]

22-Dec-16 The next step for Singapore is to increase coverage of digital healthcare by making it more accessible and available to a wider pool of citizens: 1. Singapore turns to smart healthcare to tackle its aging population issue; 2. Doctors get support from automation; 3. The app economy comes to healthcare; 4. Singaporeans want easier and better access to healthcare. [image: Singapore Business Review]

06-Dec-16 With promotion and publicity focused on China, Thailand has strong potential to lure very-rich Chinese. Singapore has the edge over Thailand by way of its Mandarin-speaking skills. Some 483,000 people travelled from China for medical tourism in 2015. They spent USD6.3 bn on treatment and USD3.4 bn on travel and accommodation, making outbound Chinese medical tourism a USD9.7 bn business. [image: Bangkok Post]

11-Dec-16 As more patients in Malaysia opt for public hospitals, patient volume in private hospitals has dropped 20-30%. With medical inflation expected to be 15% in 2017, private hospitals must find ways of coping with falling revenue. Charges will go up when private hospitals can no longer contain their costs within reasonable limits. [image: The Star]