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South Korea eyes on Bangladeshi well offs for medical tourism

Seoul, May 19 (BSS) - The Republic of Korea is eyeing on wealthy Bangladesh citizens, who seek quality treatment at higher expenses abroad, after attracting rich patients from southeast Asian nations, hospital managers and local government representatives say. Opening up medical tourism in 2009, Korea has marked a steady progress in attracting foreign patients in last three years with 110,000 foreigners visited the country for medical treatment last year, up about 35 percent or 81,789 from a year before in 2010. The government now aims to attract over 150,000 foreign patients this year and 400,000 by 2018, a sizable number of who are expected from Bangladesh, which has at least five percent or 7.5 million people with high purchasing powers and many of them prefer medical tourism abroad. "We are now getting majority of patients from US, Russia, China and neighboring Japan, but we want to offer our healthcare services to emerging countries like Laos, Vietnam and Bangladesh as well as the Middle East," says Seung Ho Jeong, Chief Executive Officer of Hucare Co that liaises between international visitors and Korea's 100 medical facilities. Seung Ho says the government has been making efforts over the past few years to develop medical tourism as one of its new growth engines after the nation decided to switch over to a green economy based on ICT and service sector from its predominantly strong industry-based economy. Bangladesh-born Saiful Islam of Korea MTS says the lack of awareness about Korean healthcare and direct air link as well as visa restrictions have been holding back Bangladesh patients to visit Korea for treatment. A small number of Bangladesh patients have, however, started moving to Korea recently from Singapore, he says. According to 2011 biennial report of OECD, Korea has been ranked one of the 10 top healthcare systems in the world in terms of technology and professionalism, while it ranked number one in the specialized fields of cancer, dental health, oriental medicine, cosmetic surgery and hair implantations. CNN.com has included Korea in its list of "hot destinations" for medical tourism, this year saying, "a high standard of care had made it a popular destination for foreign patients, especially those looking for cosmetic surgery, eyelid surgery, nose jobs, facelifts and skin-whitening." The nation's emphasis on preventive care makes it possible for travelers to come here for comprehensive health screening, which is available at sixty percent lower price than the United States, says Hucare's executive director, Tae Seong Jeong. Director Jeong says the textile-rich Daegu has been branded a new Medi-city of Korea, where treatment costs lesser than Seoul and Bussan but very much competitive to big hospitals in Singapore and Thailand. The city has five medical schools, 29 general hospitals, 30 oriental hospitals and 7,500 doctors including 2,500 surgeons to serve patients. In addition, he says, the Daegu city has a pleasant weather, mountains, nice views, parks and Asian cuisine; all of those together infuse a new lease of life into patients treating both body and mind. Government data shows that more than 110,000 foreigners flocked to South Korea for medical services last year lifting revenue from medical tourism at 116 million U.S. dollars, the highest since 2006, said a report released by the Bank of Korea in January this year. The Korea Tourism Organization predicts that foreigners visiting South Korea for medical purposes would hit one million in 2020, raising the total revenue of the medical tourism industry to about 5.51 trillion won or 4.88 billion U.S. dollars. Reported by : Saiful Islam Shameem

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5/25/2012 9:18 PM