President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) held the groundbreaking ceremony for Bali International Hospital located in the Sanur Tourism Area, Denpasar City, Bali Province, on Monday 27th December 2021.
With the development of this hospital, the President hopes that Indonesian citizens will no longer seek medical treatment abroad.
“Alhamdulillah, this morning we will start the construction of the Bali International Hospital, which will later cooperate with the Mayo Clinic in America,” Jokowi said in his statement.
“We hope that later, Sanur will become a special health economic zone and we hope that there will be no more need for our people to travel abroad to get health services.”
Jokowi explained that every year, there are 2 million Indonesians who go abroad to get health services. The destination countries include Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, the United States, and more.
“We lost Rp97 trillion because of that,” he added.
For this reason, Jokowi showed his appreciation for the plan to build the Bali International Hospital which had been initiated by the State-Owned Enterprises Minister and his staff.
“We hope that in the middle of 2023, this hospital will be completed and operational,” he said.
The President also said he hoped that Bali will become a health tourism destination which is expected to increase tourism to the island of Bali. In addition, the President also said he wants medicines, medicinal raw materials, and medical devices to no longer be imported from abroad.
“We have to stop importing these goods again and if we do, we produce it ourselves in our country,” he said.
State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir added that the new international hospital has two functions. Aside from helping Bali to have new tourism and health tourism, this hospital is also expected to be able to support health services for investors whose workers or professionals are in Indonesia.
“Because this investment means that they also want to ensure their health is guaranteed with international health standards for their workers or professionals in Indonesia. That’s why it’s very important that we build this health facility in Bali,” said Erick.