Medical Tourism in Developing Countries

86 ● Medical Tourism in Developing Countrieswell as investors from the Mumbai Stock Exchange. 86 Jordan has investedextensively in the modernization of public hospitals and medical schools,while at the same time creating incentives for both domestic and foreign privateinvestment in the health sector. 87 As a result, 11 new private hospitalshave sprung up, all with state-of-the-art technology. In Thailand, there hasbeen an emergence of joint venture private hospitals formed by local andforeign companies. 88 Even the Cuban state-run monopoly, SERVIMED, hasthe potential to build more hospitals as joint business ventures with foreigncompanies or investors. 89 Since Cuba has strength in research, in marketing,and the know-how required to place its products abroad, it has entered intojoint ventures with China, India, and Russia (that include setting up vaccineplants based on transfer of Cuban technology).Direct foreign investment in medical tourism also originates in developingcountries. Several private hospitals are spreading out into other countries.India’s Rockland Hospital is planning to open a hospital in Londonwhere, in addition to regular services, follow-up care would be offered toEuropean patients. 90 Cuba has been involved in other countries’ health carefor decades. 91 The demand for it is so great in Brazil that Cuba opened ahospital there (funded by Brazilian investors) to treat skin disorders. Also,the Apollo group of hospitals in India is building 15 hospitals in Malaysia,Nepal, and Sri Lanka. 92 In this way, India is competing with Singapore,which had earlier started investing in the health sectors in other countries(The Parkway Group has acquired hospitals in Asia and the UK, and hascreated joint ventures with partners in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,India, and the UK to produce an international chain of hospitals, GleneaglesInternational. The Raffles Medical Group has also formed global allianceswith health-care organizations in the more developed countries). In Morocco,government bias towards private ownership led to the privatization of publiclyowned hotels (so that by 1999, 24 of 37 had been sold 93 ). One of thelargest hospitals in Thailand, the Bumrungrad, is planning to invest in theAsian Hospital and Medical Center in Manila, thus acquiring 40 percentstake in the hospital. Apollo has linked up with hospitals in Bangladesh,Yemen, Tanzania, and Mauritius. Also, it runs a hospital in Sri Lanka andmanages a hospital in Dubai.Non-Medical TourismTypically, Western tourists travel to LDC resorts on Western airlines andstay in Western brand name hotels. They rent cars bearing Western namessuch as Hertz or Avis, and book land packages through Western companiessuch as American Express or Thomas Cook. All this implies that the foreigncomponent of LDC tourism is huge. In fact, it is much larger than the