SEOUL: Johor is looking at South Korea as the model to develop the state as the next medical tourism destination in Asean.

Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said that South Korea’s success in positioning the country as a leading medical tourism destination was worth emulating.

“South Korea is far ahead compared with other countries in the region when it comes to medical tourism related services,” he told reporters here.

Mohamed Khaled said this during visits to two leading private medical centres Daejeon Wellness Hospital and DK Medical Centre last Saturday.

During the functions, the state investment arm Johor Corp had signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with the two hospitals.

Under the MoU, Daejeon Wellness will set up a unit specialises in rehabilitation centre for central nervous system disorders at the KPJ Healthcare Bhd’s Tawakal Hospital in Kuala Lumpur.

KPJ Healthcare will also cooperate with DK Medical Centre to offer plastic and reconstructive surgery starting with a unit at one of the KPJ hospitals in Kuala Lumpur before extending the services to Johor Baru.

He said that Johor needed to explore new revenue sources generated from the tourism sector especially in Iskandar Malaysia instead of depending on tourist-dollar from the shopping and entertainment segments.

“Medical tourism is a growing segment in the region and with the right marketing and promotion activities, Iskandar Malaysia can emerge as the leading medical tourism destination in Asean,” said Mohamed Khaled.

Plastic surgery in South Korea is a multi-million dollar business attracting not only South Koreans but also foreign tourists.

Mohamed Khaled pointed out men and women who underwent plastic and reconstructive surgery procedures in South Korea were those with high spending power.

“We are looking at the middle class group from Indonesia and India and even Singaporeans with a strong purchasing power to come to Iskandar Malaysia as medical tourists,” he said.

Mohamed Khaled said that for years, many middle-class Indonesians went to Singapore to seek medical treatment from private hospitals in the republic although the cost was much higher compared with Malaysia.

“Johor Baru’s close proximity to Singapore is an advantage in attracting the middle-class Indonesians to come for treatment at Iskandar Malaysia,” he said.

By The Star Online; Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia attracted RM88.4 billion in investments in the first half of 2016, says the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), adding that they are poised to generate over 76,000 jobs.

The approved direct investments in the services, manufacturing and primary sectors were in 2,499 projects.

In terms of foreign direct investments, RM28.2 billion was approved during the period.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said there was continued interest by foreign investors despite the current economic scenario.

“Our approved foreign investments for the first half have already reached 78.2 per cent of the total foreign investments approved for the whole of last year,” he said in a statement

Malaysia attracted RM88.4 billion in investments in the first half of 2016, says the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), adding that they are poised to generate over 76,000 jobs. The approved direct investments in the services, manufacturing and primary sectors were in 2,499 projects.

In the first six months of 2015, investments totalled RM125.9 billion, mainly for two big petrochemical projects approved in the manufacturing sector during the same period last year, namely the Pengerang project in Johor and LNG9 project in Sarawak.

“With our strong fundamentals, Malaysia remains on a steady economic growth path. We continue to attract foreign direct investments (FDI) in quality projects in new growth areas and emerging technologies.

“With the strong presence of FDI in the country, we trust that our supply chain ecosystem and related services industry will continue to grow. To complement FDI, MITI and MIDA will continue to assist Malaysian companies to strengthen their competencies and bolster their competitive edge.”

The services sector continued to account for the largest share of total investments, contributing 76.3 per cent or RM67.5 billion, followed by the manufacturing sector with investments of RM19.6 billion or 22.2 per cent, while the primary sector contributed the remaining approved investments of RM1.3 billion (1.5 per cent).

As at August 2016, MIDA has 264 projects in the pipeline with investments worth RM30.8 billion for the manufacturing and services sectors.

These projects are mainly in chemical and chemical products, machinery and metal, transportation technology, global establishments and hospitality.

“These projects would potentially provide over 20,000 more jobs for Malaysians. We expect to process these investment proposals by the end of this year.”

By News Straits Times, Malaysia

Electricity pylons along Jalan Bintulu-Bakun. Sarawak Energy Bhd and Indonesia’s PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara have already shown that power trading between countries can be done successfully.

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia, Thailand and Laos have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate the implementation of a multilateral cross-border power trade up to 100 MW through Thailand.

The Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry said the MoU would pave the way for Malaysia to purchase up to 100MW of hydro power from Laos and transmitted through Thailand by 2018.

“The multilateral power trade is the initial stage of the Asean Power Grid initiative which is a flagship project under the Asean Vision 2020.

“The project is aimed at enhancing energy security in Asean through the establishment of a network of interconnections between Asean member states,” it said in a statement.

The MoU was signed on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 34th Asean Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

Malaysian Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Thai Energy Minister General Anantaporn Kanjanarat and Laotian Energy and Mines Vice-Minister Viraphonh Viravong represented their respective governments.

The ministry said the signing of the MoU also marked Malaysia’s commitment to increase the share of renewable energy in its fuel mix by 2020 as part of the mitigation action to reduce carbon emission in the power sector.

It said currently the fuel mix of Malaysia was dominated by coal and gas and the Government was committed to rationalise this as per the commitment made in the Paris Agreement at end of 2015.

“The initial capacity of 100 MW could be increased in the future and would positively balance our fuel mix to be more environment friendly,” it said.

Meanwhile, Ongkili said the pilot project would pave the way for other multilateral power trading in Asean as a means to enhance energy security in the region which would be of significant advantage to Malaysia. – Bernama

The Star Online; Malaysia