25 May 2009 - Sime Darby Healthcare Sdn Bhd, the healthcare arm of Sime Darby Bhd, wants more foreign patients to seek treatment at its facilities in Malaysia, aiming for this group to account for 30 per cent of its revenue in five years.

Chief executive officer Elaine Cheong said foreign patients at its two medical facilities in Subang Jaya and Petaling Jaya now account for 10 per cent of its revenue.

"The key driver in attracting foreign patients is the quality of services that we provide," Cheong told reporters after the unveiling of Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya's latest imaging system, the 3.0 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), last Saturday.

The company is also open to opportunities to tie up with foreign third-party medical facilitators to promote, sell and market its services overseas.

It recently teamed up with Medilink Network (PVT) Ltd of Bangladesh and Medilink (Beijing) TPA Services Co Ltd to promote medical travel from Bangladesh and China to Malaysia.

To woo more foreign clientele, Sime Darby Healthcare is upgrading its epilepsy and neuroscience units.

"The aim is to provide a more holistic service," she said.

On its expansion overseas, Sime Darby Healthcare is still looking for an opportunity to invest in China.

"We could make our foray into China in the next three to four years," said Cheong.

She added that the company may set up a medical centre on its own or via a joint venture or may even set up a branch office there.

In the medium-term, Sime Darby Healthcare also hopes to tap into the 20 countries, namely in emerging markets where the group is operating.

For the financial year-ended June 30 2008, Sime Darby Healthcare registered a net profit of RM20 million on a revenue of RM250 million. Its contribution to the Sime Darby group's revenue was less than 10 per cent.

Cheong said its long-term aim would be to penetrate the US and UK markets by positioning itself as an affordable medical centre with high standards.

Earlier, Malaysia External Trade Development Corp chief executive officer Datuk Noharuddin Nordin said the number of foreign patients that sought treatment in Malaysian private hospitals reached 374,063 last year, compared with 341,288 in 2007.

"Revenue generated was RM299.1 million, which was an increase of 17.8 per cent from the previous year," he said.

Seventy-five per cent of the foreign patients were from the Asean region, followed by Japan and Europe at 3 per cent, India at 2 per cent and others at 17 per cent.

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