Materia Medica Malaysiana

Pantai expects to get overseas jobs early ’05

Healthcare provider Pantai Holdings Bhd expects to secure several overseas contracts especially in the Middle East, Sri Lanka and India early next year, its chairman Datuk Ridzwan Abu Bakar says.
These projects would enable the company to maintain the group’s profitability for the financial year ending June 30, 2005, he told reporters after Pantai’s AGM on Dec 6.
Among the overseas projects, the company hopes to secure contracts to provide management services to Apollo Hospitals Ltd, and South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) port in Sri Lanka as well as three hotels in India.
A company executive said its wholly-owned unit Pantai Medivest Sdn Bhd was expected to secure two management contracts in Sri Lanka and several more in India by the first quarter of 2005. The parties involved are finalising the terms of the contract.
He said the Apollo Hospitals and SAGT contracts have a combined contract value of less than RM1 million a year. Pantai hopes to start providing SAGT the services in February 2005.
A source said Pantai Medivest was talking to ITC-Sheraton and Park Hotel in New Delhi and Bangalore to provide management services for some of its facilities.
Ridzwan said Pantai was waiting for the Saudi Arabian government to give the go-ahead for it to provide hospital management and support services to two new hospitals there.
It was reported that the company had signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with the Al-Sharif Group For Investment and Development in August to tap the Middle East market. The Al-Sharif Group plans to build two hospitals in Mecca and Madinah.
Under the JV, Pantai Medivest would provide expertise and technical resources, manpower and equipment while the Al-Sharif Group would act as liaison to the authorities as well as parties in the private sector.
Ridzwan added that Pantai was finalising arrangements with UK-based and Belgium-based insurance companies to include its seven hospitals here into the insurers panel as part of its efforts to tap into the health tourism business.
He expected to conclude the deals in three months. Currently, Pantai hospitals are in the panel list of UK-based global healthcare organisation BUPA International.
On its 16.7% interest in Avenue Capital Resources Bhd, Ridzwan said it would consider selling if there was an offer on the table.