TAITRA Promotes Medical Exchange between Taiwan and Vietnam: Exhibits Fruitful Results at Taiwan Expo in Vietnam
Source：Service Industry Promotion Section 1
From：Service Industry Promotion Section 1
Update Time：2018/08/07
MOU Signing Ceremony between Taipei Veterans General Hospital and City Children’s Hospital.
In order to enhance the exchange of the healthcare industries between Taiwan and Vietnam, under the support of the Bureau of Foreign Trade, MOEA, TAITRA invited domestic medical care institutions, and medical equipment and biotechnology manufacturers to promote in Ho Chi Minh City. To comply with Taiwan Expo 2018 in Vietnam, from 26th to 28th July, TAITRA exhibited featured medical technology, high-quality medical equipment, and innovative biotechnology inventions, by establishing the “Taiwan Healthcare Pavilion”. Taking advantage of the crowd of buyers visiting the exhibition, the "Taiwan Medical Day" press conference was organized on 27th July, 2018. Medical services and products were introduced to the Vietnamese market. The National Taiwan University Hospital attracted a lot of media attention through the case of a newborn with biliary atresia who was successfully cured in Taiwan and has grown up in a healthy condition. 30 media outlets attended the conference, including Vietnamnet, Business Review, Industry and Trade, and locals from medical institutions and related businesses, for a total of 87 representatives participating in the press conference.
In conjunction with the "Taiwan Medical Day" press conference, Taipei Veterans General Hospital signed an MOU with Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital, which was jointly witnessed by Mr. Walter Yeh, President & CEO of TAITRA and Representative Richard R.C. Shih of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam. This MOU signing ceremony is the implementation of the government’s “One Country, One Project” medical exchange under the New Southbound policy, and was fulfilled in the Taiwan Expo in Vietnam. In the future, TAITRA will continue to play the role of an exchange platform between the two sides. The referral of Vietnamese patients to Taiwan for medical treatments, the training of medical staff from children's hospitals, and the import of Taiwanese medical equipment will work in close cooperation to benefit more patients from Ho Chi Minh City.
The annual budget for public hospitals from the Vietnamese government only accounts for 0.9% of the country’s GDP. These budgets are only enough to take care 30% of the population. According to the latest statistics from The World Bank, the number of beds available to every 1,000 people in Vietnam is 2.005, with care from 0.4 doctors. Therefore, it is a trend for Vietnamese people to seek medical treatments overseas, and this has shown significant growth in recent years. Since 2012, Vietnamese people have traveled to Taiwan for medical treatments. In 2015, more than 2,000 local Vietnamese came to Taiwan for medical treatments, with rapid growth by 2017.
Mr. Walter Yeh, President & CEO of TAITRA pointed out at the press conference that Taiwan has advanced technology, high quality, and competitive prices in healthcare industry. Taiwan is an important investment partner of Vietnam. There are frequent flights between Taiwan and Vietnam every week. Vietnam and Taiwan have similar cultural and lifestyles, which can provide a more friendly medical service environment. Vietnamese people used to go to Singapore or Thailand for international medical treatments. Mr. Yeh hopes that through sharing the successfully cured case at this press conference, more Vietnamese can be encouraged to come to Taiwan to utilize the medical services in the future.
Superintendent Deh-Ming, Chang from Taipei Veterans General Hospital said that in the future, Taipei Veterans General Hospital will put efforts on medical personnel training and bridging the bilateral medical industry between Taiwan and Vietnam. Truong Quang Dinh, superintendent of Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital, also said that Taiwan and Vietnam have cooperated in the fields of medicine and healthcare. Taiwan has high-level and breakthrough medical technology. He hopes to take this opportunity to build a closer cooperation platform. The two sides hope that with the assistance of TAITRA and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam, exchanges and cooperation in the healthcare industry will be increased.