TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The coordinating minister of maritime affairs and investments Luhut Pandjaitan in a statement on Wednesday said the health sector investments are showing lucrative potential, specifically ‘medical tourism’ which coincides with the growing awareness on public health.

He mentioned investments in the health sector back in 2018 from major foreign direct investments such as Singapore, Australia, and China. Which he argued motivated the government to form the Indonesia health tourism board (IHTB) in order to develop health tourism.

“This shows that Indonesia’s health sector has promising investment opportunities in the future,” he wrote on September 15. “The IHTB is also hoped to suppress public distrust on medical institutions in Indonesia and add to the added value for the national economy,” Antaranews reported.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin also said that the government is simplifying the regulation overseeing medical tourism such as the Indonesian Medical Council Regulation (Perkonsil) No.92/2021 on adapting Indonesian medical specialists who graduated from overseas establishments and the revised Health Ministry Regulation No.67/2013 on Utilization of Health Workers of Foreign Citizens.

Read: Bali Domestic Tourist Visitation Surges After Slackened PPKM Restriction

ANTARA