Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council hosts a two-day conference to explore how trust can further create and fortify opportunities within healthcare industry value chain
KUALA LUMPUR, 3 September 2018 – Malaysia Healthcare hosted its leading annual medical travel market intelligence conference insigHT2018 bringing together experts and thought leaders to discuss and share insights on the latest trends and challenges within the healthcare travel industry. Officiated by Deputy Finance Minister, Yang Berhormat Dato’ Haji Amiruddin bin Hamzah and attended also by Deputy Minister of Health, Yang Berhormat Dr. Lee Boon Chye, the conference delegates witnessed two other milestones taking place simultaneously; an MoU signing and the Medical Travel Media Awards announcement.
Organised by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), in its third installation, the two-day conference held at Aloft KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur, featured presentations on market and industry insights which focused on its theme this year, Building Trust Towards Excellence. Subject matter experts shared their research and views expounded on topics such as convergence in the industry, digital disruption in healthcare and new market opportunities across the globe.
“The theme of this year’s conference is quite remarkable and if I may say so, a timely one. ‘Building Trust Towards Excellence’ seems to be the anthem sung across the nation this year. We have just embarked into the New Malaysia era and we need to remind ourselves to trust each other and honour the trust others have placed in us,” the Deputy Finance Minister said in his opening speech.
The Deputy Minister of Health added on saying, “The healthcare travel industry has contributed significantly to the GDP of the country. To encourage growth in this area, it is essential that time and effort are invested strategically into initiatives that will advance the industry.”
CEO of MHTC, Sherene Azli echoed both Ministers saying, “Malaysia Healthcare has moved from strength to strength. Attracting an increasing number of healthcare travellers every year, we have earned the trust of many. However, we choose to not rest on our laurels but continue to build upon the trust we have and equip ourselves with the necessary tools to care for more international patients based on our medical capabilities and capacity.”
insigHT2018 also featured distinguished local and international industry panelists and speakers such as Ilan Geva, President of Ilan Geva and Friends, USA; Sherene Azli, CEO of MHTC; Dato’ Dr. Jacob Thomas, Chairman and Group Director, Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jason CH Yap of Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, Singapore; Prof. Ki Nam Jin, Professor, Health Administration, Yonsei University, Korea; and Dave O’Brien, Senior Manager of Flywire.
This conference is one of the many initiatives to streamline the direction and strategies of the multifarious players within the healthcare travel industry towards growing the industry in a consistent and sustainable manner. One of the key areas of growth is in building Malaysia a niche identity within the region; i.e. positioning the country as the Asian hub for Fertility and Cardiology. With the inspiration of Giving Hope to Dreams and deemed the Heartbeat of Asia, the nation banks on our medical expertise in these two niche areas to support aspiring parents with quality treatments for the many hearts seeking care on our shore.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was witnessed between MHTC and Air Asia Indonesia. The MoU will be in place for a four-month trial using Air Asia Indonesia’s QZ direct flight from Indonesian cities to Penang to promote healthcare travel in Malaysia. The signatories of the MoU were CEO of MHTC Sherene Azli and Dendy Kurniawan, CEO of Air Asia Indonesia accompanied by Datuk Din Meranun.
The conference was also the launching platform for a first of its kind Medical Travel Media Awards (MTMA) anchored by Malaysia Healthcare. The awards are to celebrate both international and local media’s contribution to building awareness of Malaysia’s healthcare travel industry. MTMA invites participants from both local and international media to submit their editorials within the duration from 3rd September 2018 to 31st December 2018. Participants stand a chance to win cash prizes and trophies worth up to RM 50,000. MTMA will lead up to Malaysia Year of Healthcare Travel (MYHT) 2020’s campaign, Share My Experience, which will be open to the general public come 2019. More details about MTMA can be found in www.mylovesyou.com/mtma2018