Business

Tuesday April 14, 2009

Healthpark to complement Nusajaya development

By ZAZALI MUSA


JOHOR BARU: Property developer UEM Land Bhd wants to position its Afiat Healthpark @ Nusajaya as a holistic and fully-integrated development with all the components of a world-class healthcare centre, said managing director and chief executive officer Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim.

Facilities in the park would cover three distinctive areas, namely modern medicine, traditional and complementary medicine and wellness, he said.

“We also anticipate an increase in public demand for better healthcare services and facilities within Nusajaya in the future,” Wan Abdullah told StarBiz in an interview.

He added that as the master developer of Nusajaya with an area of almost 9,662ha of development-ready freehold land, it was vital for the company to make the area thrive.

An artist's impression of the Afiat Healthpark @ Nusajaya complex

UEM Land could not just build houses in Nusajaya without any supporting facilities such as education, business, health and leisure, if it wanted to attract local and foreign investors, he added.

Nusajaya is one of the five flagship development zones in Iskandar Malaysia.

The other zones are JB City Centre, Western Gate Development, Eastern Gate Development and Senai-Skudai.

Located on 27.51ha, Afiat Healthpark @ Nusajaya is a dedicated park with facilities such as private specialist clinics, a private hospital, a health-screening centre/outpatient clinic, dialysis centres and even a traditional chinese medicine (TCM) academy as well as a nursing college.

“We have succeeded in getting modern medicines via Columbia Asia (Sdn Bhd) with its 80-bed hospital scheduled for opening in 2010,’’ Wan Abdullah said.

Last April, Columbia Asia bought 1.09ha in Nusajaya from UEM Land’s subsidiary Nusajaya Medical Park Sdn Bhd to set up the hospital.

UEM Land is currently talking with several operators, including from China and India, to set up TCM facilities at the healthpark.

A public-listed company has also shown interest to set up a retirement village for wealthy senior citizens similar to the one in Florida, United States, according to Wan Abdullah.

“We are not so much looking for medical tourism per say as the role comes under Khazanah or IIB; we only build the facilities and lease them to interested parties or healthcare operators,’’ he said.


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