Singapore's healthcare providers are gearing up to tap into the vast business potential of China's healthcare industry.
The largest private healthcare group in Singapore, Parkway will be opening a multi-million dollar surgical centre in Shanghai by the end of the year, making it the single largest investment in healthcare services by a Singapore healthcare provider in China.
On the sidelines of a healthcare forum in Shanghai, Parkway Group said it intends to develop a chain of general practice clinics in China next.
With the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the China Medical Doctor Association has agreed to refer their top doctors to Singapore's largest private healthcare group, for the latter's medical ventures in China - including their US$8m surgical centre - the Shanghai Gleneagles.
As China develops, its demand for sophisticated medical services is expected to grow accordingly.
For Singapore to exploit these opportunities, it first has to do more to increase China's awareness of Singapore's quality medical services.
It also has to deal with the strict regulations imposed on foreign companies investing in China's healthcare industry.
According to Chinese regulations, foreign investment in China's healthcare industry must meet a minimum investment of about US$2.5m.
This has proved to be a huge challenge for the Parkway Group, which has shown keen interest in setting up a general practice chain in China.
"In our experience you don't really need 20 million yuan to invest in a general practice clinic, so it would be helpful to the development of this sector if that requirement was adjusted for different scale projects. In this point in China, you actually have to apply for licenses on a per-clinic basis; for general practice clinics to work, you really require economies of scale, therefore it usually makes more sense to develop a network of clinics, and to do that on a clinic by clinic basis would take far too long," said Dr Jonathan Seah, President (China Group), Parkway Group Healthcare.
In a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Singapore's Health Management International (HMI) and Shandong's Linyi People's Hospital, the Singapore-based regional healthcare service and education provider, will conduct training for China's nurses to help them qualify for employment overseas.
Source:佚名