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Healthcare Town to Attract Patients Seeking High-End Medical Service
 By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Old Jeju was portrayed as an island of the gods for its timeless natural setting. New Jeju is now seeking to transform itself into an East Asian mecca frequented by medical tourists, said the chief of a local agency for foreign investment promotion.
Kim Kyung-taeg, chairman and CEO of the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC), said that his team has been working on strategies to attract foreign investment to turn this vision into reality after unveiling a plan to set up a medical tourism site in Seogwipo.
``In my experience, four out of one hundred potential clients tend to become real investors,'' he said in an interview with The Korea Times last week.
Kim, 53, offered a piece of advice to specialists in foreign investment promotion, saying that ``a bumpy road is still ahead before both sides sign a final investment contract.'
``Investors try to figure out if their business partners are reliable when they decide to put their money into a particular business project. Therefore, investment seekers need to work on building up trust of their counterparts,'' the JDC chairman said.
A native of Jeju, Kim taught students at Cheju National University for 19 years before assuming the JDC chairmanship in 2006.
Asked if he had no problems in adjusting to a very different job after joining the JDC, Kim answered he was born to be a businessman.
``Teaching students was rewarding as I was able to share my expertise with them. But I feel that this job is more rewarding than the teaching job in that I can help all Jeju residents lead better lives if the projects go ahead successfully as planned.''
Program to Attract Investors
The chairman said he came to find a rule of thumb in foreign investment promotion through his two-year experience as a foreign investment promotion agency chief.
``Your clients are not supposed to come to you first for the details of your business proposals. You are advised to approach them first and present what benefits the potential investors can enjoy when they join hands with you,'' he continued.
Kim further sharpened his business acumen with his own strategy for investment promotion, which he called the program that can ``touch and impress'' clients.
After the government unveiled its plan to develop the city, local residents expressed discontent with the plan as they were concerned it might undermine their interests. Kim used a carrot and stick metaphor to help describe the plan to local residents.
``I explained to them why the island needs development and what benefits they can get if foreign investors put their money in the island. I also convinced them that they would lose out if they refused the plan,'' he said.
Convincing them to see the joint gains in the plan helped move the local residents and they finally got behind it.
With the support of local residents, the JDC attracted $3.9 billion from a Malaysian investor for a resort-type residential complex after Kim took office in 2006.
Healthcare Town
Jeju, which Kim called an island of peace, seeks to be a major player in the Asian medical tourism industry in the future.
The local government set aside land of 1,477,000 square meters in Seogwipo to build a mammoth healthcare town a 50-minute drive from Jeju International Airport.
The healthcare town, which will consist of three facilities ― R&D Park, Medial Park and Wellness Park ― is aimed at foreign patients seeking high-end medical treatment and senior citizens wishing to lead healthy lifestyles after their retirement.
The JDC said it plans to invest 315 billion won in the project.
Niche Market
According to Research and Markets, a provider of international market resources and market data, more than 2.9 million patients have visited Thailand, India, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines in 2007 for medical tourism.
Its recently released report, titled ``Asian Tourism: Analysis (2008-2012), found that the Asia region has generated revenues worth $3.4 billion, accounting for approximately 12.7 percent of the global market.
The report said the demand for medical tourism in the region will grow in the future as ``the ageing population in the industrialized world puts an extra demand on an already overburdened health infrastructure,'' and is predicted to create huge opportunities in the Asian medical tourism market.
Singapore has set a goal of attracting 1 million foreign patients by 2012.
As a late entrant to the emerging industry, Jeju is requested to clarify its own strategy to become a major player in the future.
``Our target groups are Chinese and Japanese medical tourists who live within a two-hour flight time distance from the island,'' the JDC chairman said.
Five mega cities, including Tokyo and Beijing, are within a two-hour flight time from Jeju.
``The target patients are different from those of the southeastern Asian countries, which already positioned themselves as leaders in global medical tourism, and we do have quality medical workforce as well as technologies. Therefore, I do see that the future for the medical tourism in Jeju is optimistic,'' he said.
``No visa is required for foreigners to visit the island. Many benefits are available for foreign investors when they are seeking business here. These also add the benefits foreign patients can enjoy in Jeju,'' Kim said. `` We continue to devise packages to help investors and foreigners lead comfortable lives in the island.''
The number of tourists in Jeju marked 5.5 million in 2007, and nine percent of them were foreigners. The vast majority of them were Japanese and Chinese.
The number of foreign tourists is projected to go up to 10 million, approximately twice higher than last year, in a very near future, Kim said.
hkang@koreatimes.co.kr
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