Malaysia cuts medical tourism goal on tighter border control

Foreign workers follow the SOP of RMCO and wear their mask while go to public place. The pandemic of Covid 19 has changed the daily routine of the public. 17 Sept 2020 --CHAN TAK KONG/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s aim to attract medical tourists by focusing on curbing the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak hit a roadblock as resurgences around the world limited its ability to reopen borders.

Hospitals in the country can expect to earn 800 million ringgit ($194 million) of revenue from medical tourists next year, compared with 500 million ringgit this year, according to the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council. That’s far short of the 1.7 billion ringgit the industry earned in 2019 and its earlier 2020 target for 2 billion ringgit.