Dubai planning for 13% annual growth in medical sector until 2021

In a region that's quickly modernizing, one of the Gulf area's primary cosmopolitan cities, Dubai, is determined to grow its health care system to the point where it offers medical tourism to the global community.
Dubai authorities are announcing that with an investment of over $272.2 million last year, they expect to welcome around 1.3 million medical tourists within the next five years.
As far as revenues, Dubai officials are looking for an increase of 13 percent every year until 2021.
Some of this optimism is supported by reports that foreigners accounted for 46 percent of business last year for Dubai's 26 hospitals.
Demographic details released by the Dubai Statistic Centre (DSC) show that visitors from Asian countries accounted for 43 percent of medical tourists last year.
These benchmarks didn't come without some concerted efforts.
A May story in Gulf News reported a 25-member partnership between Dubai medical facilities and other vendors which has been meeting since February to support agile development in the growth of Dubai's health care industry.
“We are certain that our partners are putting in all their efforts to ensure the support of this project." Humaid Al Qutami, chairman of the board and director-general of Dubai Health Authority (DHA), said in a press statement. "We appreciate all the contributions made by each partner.”
Other efforts also led to the rosy figures for Dubai’s health care future.
“UAE is rapidly gaining popularity as a medical tourism destination.” Namrata Gada, a senior manager at research firm Aranca, told the Gulf News Journal in response to questions about Dubai’s progress. “As per Business Monitor International (BMI), UAE’s risk-reward score is 62.5 as of Q2 2016, making it the most attractive market in the MENA region, followed closely by Saudi Arabia at 59.7.”
Gada has over eight years of work experience across market research, consulting and financial journalism, and she has managed and executed various projects related to industry analysis, market entry strategies, financial modeling and competitive intelligence across sectors such as health care, construction and financial and IT services.
Gada mentioned four things supporting national health care efforts: strong fiscal spending, world-renowned treatment centers, a strong presence of international pharmaceutical brands and the use of high-end technology.
There’s also value for cost.
“The medical boom in the country can be attributed to the availability of quality treatments at a very low cost, compared to developed markets such as the U.S. and Western Europe.” Gada said.
Not content to rest on their laurels, Dubai officials will be gearing up for a construction boom, Gada said.
“DHA launched the world’s first comprehensive medical tourism electronic portal in 2016 covering everything from visa services to hospital booking and insurance.” Gada said. “The authority also plans to construct 18 private hospitals across the country over the next few years under its project Vision 2021.”
Clearly, Dubai planners are capitalizing on the work that’s already been done to keep health care operations serving both locals and foreign visitors in an age where health care forms one of the most contested global territories for competing national economies.