ASEAN region ranks high in healthcare competitivenessASEAN region ranks high in healthcare competitiveness

Healthcare in Southeast Asia boasts a decades-long commitment to innovation and advanced medical facilities with a robust infrastructure. These collectively raised its rank as a competitive global destination for high-quality, affordable medical treatment, attracting patients from the region and abroad. Additionally, it has become a state-of-the-art learning hub for professionals in the healthcare business by offering an immersive platform for the exchange of knowledge and technology.

Investments continue to pour in as governments in Southeast Asia allocate a significant portion of their budget to boost the healthcare industry. Healthcare expenditure in Thailand, for instance, is valued at approximately US$25.3 billion, according to the US-based International Trade Administration. These costs are further expected to mark a 10-year compound annual growth rate of 6.6 per cent by 2026 amounting to US$47.9 billion. The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) development plan led by the Thai government is set to play a role in raising the country to an innovation-based economy, which in turn is expected to fuel healthcare projects within the provinces covered under the scheme, namely Chachoengsao, Chon Buri, and Rayong. 

This has welcomed special privileges for healthcare businesses ranging from a 17 per cent flat personal income tax, a corporate income tax reduction of 50 per cent, as well as the provision of a five-year work visa to manage operations and retain skilled medical talent.

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Exciting times are ahead for the healthcare industry in the ASEAN region as countries turn their attention to preventive care and technological advancements. Geriatric care is also slowly but surely becoming an important focus area as the ageing population is set to increase by 20.3 per cent in 2050, according to recent statistics published by The BMJ, a peer-reviewed medical trade journal by the British Medical Association.

Keeping the region’s healthcare workforce up to speed with the latest trends, technology and business strategies, premier events — Medlab Asia and Asia Health — return for its seventh edition with a refined portfolio of leading medical laboratory and healthcare innovation, as well as networking opportunities for businesses in the healthcare industry. The event, taking place between August 16 and 18 in Bangkok, further infuses the concept of sustainability into various aspects of the business to leave an economic, environmental and social impact — from operations, logistics, conference and networking programmes to laboratory, patient care, community, and future health planning and development. 

The latest edition of the show is home to the region’s only multidisciplinary congress, featuring 13 accredited conferences in various trending sectors, namely laboratory management, molecular diagnostics, haematology, and immunology under Medlab Asia, and emergency medicine, patient safety and infection control, total radiology and nursing under Asia Health. 

The conferences will also feature the voices of leading female leaders in the healthcare industry, from opening remarks for the nursing track by Prof. Dr. Siriorn Sindhu, President of the Nurses Association of Thailand (NAT), and Dr. Associate Prof. Nanthaphan Chinlumprasert as moderator for the ‘Redesigning palliative care in all dimensions for optimum results’ panel. The show will also have inspirational insights from Assistant Prof. Pimpun Kitpoka, Director of Blood Bank at Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University who will speak at the emergency medicine conference, alongside keynotes delivered by Lisa Mckenzie, VP Asia Pacific at the Australia-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and Prof. Le Thi Anh Thu, President of Vietnam Infection Control Society Safety under the patient safety track.

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The ‘Doing Business in Thailand’ track, which will take place on August 17 and 18 in partnership with the Thai Medical Device Technology Industry Association (THAIMED), is specially curated to give industry leaders — entrepreneurs and policymakers to investors and decision makers alike — key insights into the country’s dynamic healthcare market and highlight business opportunities and solutions. The two-day agenda will highlight thought-provoking topics such as digitalisation agility in healthcare business, future medical device support for the private sector, good manufacturer distributor practice, and digital health reimbursements, to name a few.

Learn more about Medlab Asia and Asia Health and click here to register for the event

This article appears in Omnia Health magazine. Read the full issue online today.