Mubasher: The healthcare sector in Saudi Arabia continues to develop in line with the global advancements in technology, research, and development, according to Colliers International’s report.
The healthcare industry in the kingdom still faces several challenges including patient growing awareness of trends and latest treatment methods as well as patientcare clearly transitioning to “fee for quality” from “fee for service”, director of healthcare, education and public-private partnerships (PPP) Mansoor Ahmed commented, according to Colliers.
The continuous changes come in line with the announced Vision 2030 which emphasises preventative medical care through, in addition to endorsing healthy lifestyles and accouraging the growth of private sector competition driving quality and efficiency.
“Though the kingdom is moving towards encouraging more private sectors participation in the healthcare market, the key challenge is the extent of investment required, which is estimated to be in the range of $11–$17.4 billion (at 2.23 beds) to $23.6–$37.3 billion (at 2.7 beds),” Mansoor Ahmed said.
Colliers expects REIT funds in Saudi Arabia to unlock around $7.5 billion to $8.5 billion property value from the private sector, thereby playing a major role in extending growth in the healthcare sector.
“With the foreign investors ownership announcement by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), in which foreign investors can have 100% ownership in healthcare and education sectors, which once implemented, is expected to boost private sector investment in the healthcare sector,” Colliers, the global commercial real estate leader, said in its latest white paper on the healthcare sector in Saudi Arabia, the eighth edition a series of research papers on healthcare in the MENA region.
