Canada’s Triple Eye Infrastructure Corp has got a license to set up a joint venture with Vietnam’s Dai An JSC Co. to build an international-standard hospital at an estimated cost of $225 million in the northern province of Hai Duong. The joint venture has a registered capital of $48 million, with a 71.11% stake held by the Canadian firm, and will develop the 200-bed hospital on an area of nine hectares in Dai An Industrial Park. Once operational in 2016, the hospital is expected to serve around 20,000 laborers in the park as well as local residents. This is the first investment project of Triple Eye Infrastructure in Vietnam and the first international hospital in Hai Duong province, which is now home to 296 foreign-invested projects that employ thousands of foreigners.
The spending on health services in Vietnam has kept rising steadily over the years despite economic difficulties, making the sector increasingly attractive to foreign investors. Of the $12 billion spent in 2013, 50% came from people’s pockets. The figure did not include the $1 billion the Vietnamese wealthy spend on treatment abroad due to poor services and facilities at local hospitals. Vietnam, with a burgeoning population of 90 million, has 20.5 hospital beds for every 10,000 citizens. This ratio is low compared to the 33 beds considered to be the minimum level set by the World Health Organization. (Dau Tu – Investment Apr 7 p4)
