KOHEA to build hospital in Colombia

Lee Min-hwa KOHEA president

By Park Si-soo

A consortium of Korean hospitals and medical equipment manufacturers has been selected as the preferred bidder to build a military hospital in Colombia.

The Korean Digital Hospital Export Agency (KOHEA) representing the consortium said the Colombian Defense Ministry made the decision last Wednesday.

The final assessment of the consortium by the ministry is underway and, if it ends successfully, KOHEA will take a leading role in building the $26 million, eight-story hospital for the Colombian air force and navy by December 2015.

It came days after the country’s two powerful medical organizations — the Korean Hospital Association and the Committee of Future Medical Industry — joined forces to facilitate the opening of the hospitals’ branches abroad. To that end, they established an independent committee that will host promotional campaigns for Korean hospitals and medical services.

There is no correlation between the two events. But they have offered a clear indication that the overseas demand for Korean medical facilities and services is on the rise. This is partially attributable to the country’s elevated international profile thanks to “hallyu” or Korean wave, according to analysts.

A KOHEA official said the agency has pushed forward with similar projects in Costa Rica, Peru and other developing nations, adding the successful winning of the Colombian project will deliver a positive impact on other pending bids.

“The Colombian case will serve as a catalyst of exporting Korean hospital,” said Lee Min-hwa, KOHEA president.

Meanwhile, Korea and the Latin American country have pledged to implement their bilateral free trade agreement as early as possible. The Korea-Colombia FTA was signed in February but still needs to be endorsed by the countries’ respective legislatures.

Under the deal, Seoul will eliminate tariffs on 96.1 percent of Colombian goods within 10 years after it takes effect with Colombia set to reciprocate the move on 96.7 percent of Korean products, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.