KUCHING: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between KHK Development and Tianbei Heping Development for the development of the Kuching Integrated International Medical Centre (KIMhub).
Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg, who was represented by Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Professor Dr Sim Kui Hian, witnessed the signing ceremony that was held at Grand Margherita Hotel here on Wednesday.
“This is a huge project with a huge investment, estimated to be in the region of RM4 billion, which Sarawak appreciates.
“I came to understand that the KIMhub concept is a whole ecology system of what is required to create a sustainable medical hub.
“Sarawak has a small population to make the project viable, so there is a need for us to look out of the box, to ‘borrow’ or ‘import demand’ for our medical hub to ensure its economic viability,” said Johari, who had his text of speech read by Sim.
Johari added that for Sarawak, it has been projected that by 2030, there will be about 500,000 senior citizens and that like China, Malaysia will face the situation of becoming an ageing nation.
“Based on the average life span of 72 years for Malaysian men and 75 for Malaysian women, studies have shown that by 2030, Malaysia will become an ageing nation with 15 percent of its population above 60 years of age.
“As a result, besides catering to the needs of our own senior citizens, KIMhub needs to sustain its business by being able to cater to those from other developed nations across the world.
“On top of that, its senior citizens who have retired but are still active, are also looking for another country where they could retire comfortably with a lower cost of living,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that within the KIMhub, it will establish training colleges for specialised nurses to ensure adequate and continuous software and human resource support.
At the same time, he also said that healthcare facilities provided within KIMhub will not be confined to just Western medicine but also Eastern or alternative medicine.
“As KIMhub will be located side by side with two representations of Sarawak’s pride, the Sarawak Heart Centre and the Tropical Peat Research Institute, and within the vicinity of our university UNIMAS, more research collaboration may be initiated and conducted to ensure that Sarawak has an edge over other nations within the region.
“Research and development, much like the digital economy, is an industry which I hope to be able to develop in tandem with the latter to build up a developed state which relies on knowledge and human capital rather than depleting natural resources.
“KIMhub has the potential to be of tremendous benefits to Sarawak and it is my hope that it will be a catalyst of growth for our medical industry, tourism industry as well as research and development industry to propel our state to the next stage of growth,” he said.
Executive director Angie Kueh and director Joseph Kok represented KHK Development while Tianjin Tianbei Real Estate chairman Bai Jirui and Tianjin-China Economic and Social Council member of Tianjin Municipal City Annie Chen represented Tianbei Heping Development in the signing of the agreement.
Also present during the event were Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Snowdan Lawan.
