OPIC Board Approves Financing for Academic Health Sciences Center in Malaysia

June 24, 2013

(OPIC) Public-Private Partnership Includes Teaching Hospital, Medical School and Research Center

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) recently approved a $250 million loan to help build Malaysia’s first fully-integrated private medical school, 600-bed teaching hospital, and research center.

“This project is critical to Malaysia’s development plan to help it become a regional and global health care hub, and will help in addressing the shortage of local and specialty talent facing the country’s health care system today,” said OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield. “In addition to elevating Malaysia’s ability to provide best in-class medical treatments within its own borders, this project will have a significant impact on local job creation especially in the professional and technical fields.”

The new academic health sciences center, to be located near Kuala Lumpur, is a collaboration between The Johns Hopkins University, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI), the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Academic Medical Centre Sdn Bhd, subsidiary of Chase Perdana Sdn Bhd, a Kuala Lumpur-based private development corporation, and an associate company of Turiya Sdn Bhd.

The Perdana University Teaching Hospital, in affiliation with Johns Hopkins Medicine International, will offer highly specialized services and treatments for a range of ailments including trauma, cardiology care, cerebrovascular disease and diabetes. The teaching hospital will be fully integrated with the Perdana University Graduate School of Medicine (PUGSOM) to meet the clinical teaching needs for medical students and specialty trainees. PUGSOM is the first medical school outside of the United States to incorporate Johns Hopkins’ new interdisciplinary Genes to Society (“GTS”) curriculum. Johns Hopkins experts will assist in developing a fully integrated academic medical center that will be based on Johns Hopkins’ values of excellence, discovery and innovation in medical education, research and patient care.

The new academic health sciences center will serve as a platform for clinical and translational research, including collaborations between Perdana and international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

The Government of Malaysia classified the project as a public-private partnership (PPP) to support its efforts to upgrade the country’s healthcare infrastructure to provide world class medical training and treatments. The PPP classification is significant because it is extended only to projects that have national strategic importance, will have a high multiplier effect and increase the business competitiveness of Malaysia.

Welcome to the Exporting Source

Your one-stop resource for finding help to export to new customers, to learn about government export programs, to join export-promoting trade missions, to sign up for trade conferences and training, and to link to other exporting services. Whether you're an old hand at exporting or just getting started, the Exporting Source provides a place to locate foreign customers, export financing and foreign investment assistance.