Malaysian Healthcare Industry Is in ...( Country's healthcare industry in 2009...)

Country's healthcare industry in 2009 is expected to grow at 8 percent

MALAYSIA, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The recent economic downturn has contributed to a significant shift in the Healthcare industry in 2009 regionally, but not for Malaysia.

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Dr Pawel Suwinski, Senior Consultant of the Healthcare Practice, Asia Pacific comments that the Malaysian healthcare companies are not going to be affected as badly as it may seem.

"Malaysian economy is faring better as compared to other APAC countries. This is due to adequate monetary and fiscal responses, more resilient banking sector, and positive BOP: mostly accredited to oil export. As predicted, the more affected industries are manufacturing, electronics and automotive. The outlook for healthcare remains cautiously optimistic provided oil prices will not go up, China will not slump into recession and the US financial market will not collapse," he comments.

The country's healthcare industry in 2009 is expected to grow at 8 percent and is being supported by RM 13.7 billion budget (RM 13 billion in 2008). This is an increase of 5.35 percent from previous year, which represents 2 percent of GDP.

Tham Lin Hui, Senior Consultant of Pharmaceuticals Healthcare, Asia Pacific also echoes that the recent economy crisis presents an array of opportunities to key players in the pharmaceutical industry. It is estimated that the country's pharmaceutical industry will expand at a 5 percent rate.

"We can expect higher corporate activities with possible mergers & acquisitions. Players in this sector will be adopting new technologies (molecular, genetic) in the production of vaccines and therapeutic drugs will be the trend," Tham comments.

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