World-Class SEZ for Health Tourism to Further Solidify Indonesia’s Healthcare Architecture Transformation
Jakarta, October 15th, 2022 - PT Aviasi Pariwisata Indonesia (Persero) known as Injourney, through its subsidiary PT Hotel Indonesia Natour (HIN), in collaboration with Indonesia Healthcare Corporation (IHC) aim to build Indonesia’s first Health and Tourism Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located in Sanur, Bali Province.
The government's decision to build the Sanur SEZ that integrates the health sector with the tourism sector is in line with the priority areas of the Indonesia G20 Presidency, inclusive health care, digital-based economic transformation, and the transition to sustainable energy.
Bali Province was chosen as the Health and Tourism SEZ location to provide patients the opportunity to receive world-class health services while also taking advantage of the Bali’s beauty as an option for traveling. The island of Bali has great potential to become a center for medical tourism in Southeast Asia.
As the first SEZ in Indonesia that combines the health and tourism sectors, the government hopes that the Sanur SEZ can contribute to national economic growth. The Sanur SEZ is also encouraged to become a new investment location, as well as to absorb workers. It is hoped that after it becomes fully operational, the Sanur SEZ can absorb around 43 thousand workers. By 2045, the Sanur SEZ is expected to be able to add total foreign exchange earnings up to USD 1.28 billion.
The development of the Sanur SEZ is projected to be able to absorb around 4% to 8% of Indonesian people who seek treatment abroad. Thus, it is expected that by 2030, the total number of patients seeking treatment at the Sanur SEZ will be between 123,000 to 240,000.
Data shows that the Indonesian population is a major contributor to medical tourism in the region with more than 2 million citizens traveling abroad in 2019 to obtain health services worth USD 6 billion.
Indonesia’s Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir believes that developing the Sanur Health and Tourism SEZ will boost both national and local economy "It has quite a large potential; thus, it can become a priority to revive tourism activities in Bali," said Erick.
Furthermore he explained this intervention must be carried out so that the Indonesian people will no longer need to travel abroad for treatment because Indonesia has been able to provide excellent and world-class health services.
In addition, the projected increase of the number of tourists visiting Bali Island is expected to reach 24.6% in the 2020-2024 period, and the growth of medical tourism in Southeast Asia is predicted to reach around 18% in the same period.
The Sanur SEZ offers an end-to-end patient journey for its visitors with various facilities. In addition to park facilities, hotels, and commercial centers, there are six areas in the Sanur SEZ that are specifically dedicated to health services. Two of these areas have been leased and will later be built as an international-class hospital operated by the Mayo Clinic. Meanwhile, four other areas are available for investors who specialize in accordance with the predetermined master plan, such as plastic and cosmetic surgery, geriatrics, stem cell research center, and oriental medicine and fertility center.
Mira Dyah Wahyuni, Operation Director of Indonesia Healthcare Corporation said the Sanur SEZ will provide high-quality integrated international standard health services with the latest medical care to encourage people to entrust treatment in Indonesia without having to go abroad. As a holding of state-owned enterprise hospitals, IHC currently houses 75 hospitals and 143 clinics throughout Indonesia.
IHC is committed to serving the community to realize national health resilience through various state-owned hospitals, clinics, and those affiliated with the IHC network.
The groundbreaking process for the construction of the Sanur SEZ was carried out by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo on December 27th, 2021. The Sanur SEZ comes with a business plan for health facilities, hotel and MICE accommodations, an ethnomedicinal botanical garden, as well as a commercial center. It is built on an area of 41.26 Hectares owned by PT Hotel Indonesia Natour (HIN) with an investment value of USD 664 Million.
As an effort to integrate health services with tourism, a revitalization process for the existing tourism infrastructure in the Sanur SEZ will also be carried out, including to increase the hotel class rating from 4 to 5 stars. “This revitalization process will further increase the added value of the Sanur SEZ which carries the concept of integrated end-to-end service. Thus, it can further attract the interest of people seeking world-class medical services while traveling to Bali," Injourney's President Director, Dony Oskaria explained.
The revitalization will include the Grand Inna Bali Beach Tower Hotel, Grand Inna Bali Beach Garden, and the construction of a Convention Center with a capacity of 5,000 people.
The SEZ area for health tourism will be one of the Ministry of SOE's priority programs’ showcasing in the SOE International Conference: Driving Sustainable & Inclusive Growth which will be held on 17-18 October 2022 in Denpasar, Bali. This event is a part of the Trade, Investment & Industry Working Group (TIIWG) Road to G20 which will be attended by SOE leaders & stakeholders, delegates from G20 member countries, investors, international organizations, business partners, scholars, think tanks, and media. In addition to the conference session, the SOE International Conference will also present an exhibition displaying the performance, initiatives and programs of SOEs with a focus on successful transformation and the three priorities of the Indonesian G20 Presidency.**