Board of Investments okays P1.2-billion medical tourism project

MANILA, Philippines - The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved tax incentives for the P1.2-billion medical tourism project of Providence Hospital Inc. (PHI) in Quezon City.

In a statement, trade undersecretary and BOI managing head Adrian Cristobal Jr. said PHI is putting up a hospital with a capacity of 500 patients daily.

 “We aim to make the Philippines an attractive medical tourism destination. Our well-trained medical staff and competitive medical services put the Philippines in a strong position to develop its medical tourism market,” he said.

The Philippines targets to collect $3 billion in revenues from the medical tourism sector by 2015.

Cristobal said the Philippines is developing a strong medical tourism market because of the highly-skilled and English-proficient workers in the sector, sophisticated private hospitals, and competitive pricing in medical services.

Based on the Asian Medical Tourism Analysis 2008-2012, Asia’s medical tourism market is expected to grow by 18 percent between 2007 and 2012.

 “The project supports the tourism department’s investment-driven strategy to increase the number of tourists and tourism revenues in the country,” Cristobal added.

DTI said that the PHI project is accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and would create 278 jobs once operations start in December.

Under the 2011 Investments Priorities Plan (IPP), investments in tourism is part of the mandatory list for investments promotions.

This covers investments in tourist transport services; establishment and operations of tourist accommodation and amusement facilities such as convention and exhibition halls, amusement parks, ecotourism venues, sports centers, theme parks, health and wellness clinics. It also covers investments in retirement villages.