Taiwan Int'l medical treatment to be part of economic zone

By Joy Lee, The China Post March 26, 2013, 12:01 am TWNTAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) plans to include an international medical treatment area in the proposed free economic demonstration zone to attract more vistors to Taiwan, CEPD Minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) said yesterday.Regular hospitals currently open only around 10 percent of their capacity for treating people from overseas due to regulations, while the amount of government income from health checkups has increased fourfold from NT$1 billion to NT$4 billion between 2011 and 2012 on the back of an increase in the number of Chinese tourists, Kuan said."The zone is scheduled to open 100 percent of its medical facilities to those from overseas, and the service provided in the area will not be limited to health checkups and cosmetic surgery," he said."The main purpose of setting up an international medical treatment area is to attract medical organizations from other countries to Taiwan and to serve international patients. However, the CEPD still hopes to ensure some slots in these international medical areas remain open to Taiwanese."According to local reports, cosmetic surgery operators, such as Sunmax Biotechnology and Dynamic Medical Technologies Inc., are looking forward to the new free economic demonstration zone proposal and have demanded the government further relax related regulations.Sunmax Biotechnology CEO Wang Chin-fu (王進富) said the government could consider assisting cosmetic surgery operators to set up branches in mainland China so Chinese customers can receive more complete after-surgery services.Ren Chung-chieh (任中杰), general manager of Dynamic Medical Technologies Inc., said that if the government invested more resources to promote Taiwan's cosmetic surgery sector, it would help the development of the industry.Great Service Draws Chinese TouristThe quality of Taiwan's medical treatment is now on par with advanced international standards, according to local reports, but the general cost is lower than that charged in Europe or the United States. Therefore, more international tourists, especially from China, come to Taiwan to receive medical treatment or cosmetic surgery.Hong Zi-ren (洪子仁), executive manager of the Shin Kong Hospital Health Management Center, said "the quality of medical treatment in Taiwan is the main reason why Chinese tourists are attracted to visit."Hong said that since the hospital became the first to welcome Taiwan's first group of health and beauty-seeking Chinese last February, mainland tourists have been visiting the hospital for health checkups almost every day.According to Hong, many Chinese tourists come to Taiwan for health checkups after recommendations from Taiwanese businessmen in China, which shows that the government itself still has to work hard to win over more Chinese tourists.The Executive Yuan consented to giving out visas to Chinese tourists who intend to visit Taiwan to undergo health checkups and medical aesthetic-oriented surgeries last January.Shin Kong Hospital, Chang Bing Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, and E-Da Hospital have teamed up with China Airlines to promote health checkup tour packages for Chinese tourists. TransAsia Airways and Taipei Veterans General Hospital have also been planning to work together to promote tour packages for Chinese tourists.