Ethiopia offers 100% FDI facility to India for healthcare

Land will be offered for Indian entrepreneurs besides other incentives and tax facilities

Ethiopia offered 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) facility to India for setting up hospitals and other healthcare facilities in Ethiopia. The host country will acquire land for Indian entrepreneurs and offer other incentives and tax facilities as well.

Addressing a summit on ‘India: The Future Global Healthcare Hub’ under the aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ambassador of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Gennet Zewide said, “Many patients travel from Ethiopia and other African countries for super critical care facilities. Ethiopia, particularly would offer 100 per cent FDI benefits for Indian professionals that intend to explore the country for setting up of (a) host of medical services including concessional land and bunch of incentives including holidays schemes to suitably protect the Indian investments in the health sector.”

However, the summit also saw a vast majority of African diplomats from countries such as Republic of Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Gambia who were also participating in summit, demand that facilitation centres for visiting patients and their relatives from African countries be set up in Indian metropolis with super critical facilities to ensure that they are not fleeced by hospital owners due to excessive over invoicing. They allege that visiting patients in need of best of medical facilities fall prey to touts, middle men and brokers who recommend nursing homes making false claims.

It was not just Ethiopia who raised this issue. Other diplomats such as High Commissioner of the Republic of Rwanda Ernest Rwamucyo; Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal El Hadj Ibou Boye; Ambassador of Zimbabwe Mawxell Ranga; Minister Commercial Bureau, Embassy of Arab Republic of Egypt Mongy Badr; Counsellor, High Commission of Gambia Alieu Bah, also raised the issue.

Mongy Badr, Minister Commercial Bureau, Embassy of Arab Republic of Egypt, hailed the approach of the Modi government towards promotion of India’s service sector since it contributes the largest share to the nation’s GDP.

Among others who also endorsed the demand for creation of such facilitation centres were Director, Fortis Organ Retrieval and Transplant and Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Sciences Dr Avnish Kumar Seth; Senior Consultant Renal Transplantation Department, Gangaram Hospital Dr H Jauhri; Medical Director, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre Dr H S Chabbra; Unit Director, Rockland Hospital Navneet Bali.

The Chairmen of International Affairs Committee for Africa and Health Committee of PHD Chamber Sanjeev Sardana and Nishant V Berlia including the Secretary General of the Chamber Saurabh Sanyal assured the participants that the Chamber would take up the issue of setting up of facilitation centres for visiting African patients in India with the Ministry of External Affairs and other departments of the government so that such fleecing of patients is stopped.