This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 14, 2017 - April 20, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Bhd is setting up six new hospitals at a total cost of RM1 billion to cater to the rise in medical tourism, besides upgrading its existing Sunway Medical Centre.

“We are expanding our healthcare division in response to the increasing demand for quality healthcare services in Malaysia,” Sunway Group founder and chairman Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah said yesterday.

Cheah said the first of the six hospitals is under construction at Sunway Velocity in Cheras. To be completed in 2019, it will have 240 beds initially and an additional 100 later.

“There will be another hospital in Sunway Damansara [in Petaling Jaya], two in Penang, one in Sunway Iskandar, Johor and one in Ipoh. The investments amount to RM1 billion and it will take a few years to complete the construction,” Cheah told a press conference at the launch of HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd’s new branch at Sunway Pinnacle in Bandar Sunway.

He said the decision to build more hospitals was prompted by the boom in medical tourism, helped by the depreciation of the ringgit against other currencies.

“We have done all the studies and these [new hospitals] will all be for medical tourism purpose.

“There is no reason for people who are outside Malaysia to go to other countries such as Singapore, the US, UK or Australia when they can have [the facilities] here. So they should come here and I believe this will happen,” he added.

Cheah also announced an expansion plan for the group’s Sunway Medical Centre which will see 245 beds added to the existing 375, bringing the total number to 620.

“Everything is ready, just waiting for the [ministry] to give the licence. Then after two to three years, we will [further expand to] about 1,100 beds to become a teaching hospital.

“We are linked with Monash University Malaysia campus and therefore I believe that our quality and our standard are world class,” he said.