An official said that the Indonesian Health Ministry’s plan to turn Bali into a medical tourism destination.
During a visit to the island, Dante Saksono, the deputy minister of health said, “With our visit, this time around we want to plan the opening of the number one aesthetic clinic in Indonesia, which will be developed at Sanglah General Hospital as a model for medical tourism in Indonesia.”
According to Dante, this plan is aimed at keeping Indonesians from seeking medical services abroad, which he said can amount to about IDR100 trillion (USD6.9 billion) in lost opportunity for the domestic industry.
Dante added that the clinic in Sanglah would provide various skincare procedures, plastic surgery, and dental services, among others. There are also plans to work with partners in South Korea.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, however, Indonesia’s medical tourism project in Bali is still in its infancy.
Last year, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir raised the possibility of developing supporting facilities to transform Bali into a medical tourism hub with Japanese partners to train doctors and nurses.
Erick spoke of improving health services in Indonesia so that it can be on par with neighboring countries, such as Singapore and Malaysia, which are both popular among Indonesians seeking health services abroad.
Citing a report issued by PwC, Maritime Affairs and Investment Ministry spokesman Jodi Mahardi previously said that around 600,000 Indonesians sought medical treatments overseas in 2015, which was the highest figure in the world then.
