PPP - development orientation for healthcare sector hinh anh 1Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has been seen as one of the effective solutions to encouraging the non-State economic sectors to invest in healthcare, heard a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on May 9. 

Speaking at the workshop, Do Quy Hiep, deputy head of the PPP desk under the municipal Department of Planning and Investment, said HCM City plans to allocate about 30 trillion VND (1.32 billion USD) to investment projects during 2015-2020, of which 12 percent will serve healthcare.

However, he said, the city can afford just half of the amount while the remaining is waiting for investors.

As of April 2017, HCM City has 114 PPP projects worth an estimated 131.74 trillion VND (5.8 billion USD) with nearly 5.5 trillion VND (242 million USD) for healthcare, he said, adding that there are ten pending medical projects in the locality.

Truong Vinh Long, Director General of Hoa Lam International Hospital, said PPP is one of the State’s open policies to accelerate the synchronous public and private healthcare development.

He cited cooperation between Hoa Lam International Hospital and 115 People’s Hospital as an example of the model, saying Hoa Lam is expected to help ease the overload suffered by the public hospital and offer high-quality services with almost equivalent prices to patients.

Representatives from US groups like AIM, Microsoft, Global Health Services Network and Varian Medical System said the PPP model has been applied by many countries worldwide.

They suggested investors engage in specific and clear contracts with public hospitals.

The Vietnamese Government should put forth a clear and time-limit legal framework to ensure long-term cooperation and ease risks for investors, they said.

The workshop was jointly held by the US Consulate General’s Commercial Affairs Office in HCM City and Hoa Lam Investment Development Corporation.-VNA

VNA