Morocco aims to develop healthcare tourism

The Kingdom of Morocco is planning to tap the potential of the "low cost, sophisticated medical sector" in India and promote healthcare tourism in the country.

The African country is in talks with the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) for setting up basic medical infrastructure in Morocco with the help of Indian expertise and low-cost technology.

According to Mohammad Slaoui, minister of economy and trade, Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco, a team from Assocham would soon visit Morocco in this regard.

Slaoui was in the city for a business interactive meet on 'Healthcare Tourism: Opportunities in India', organised by Export-Import Bank of India in Ahmedabad.

"We are just two hours away by flight from the UK, but the medical treatment there is very expensive. Compared to that, the treatment in India is much cheaper," said Slaoui.

On Moroccon tourism, Slaoui said, "Since our tourism sector is quite developed, we are looking for a partnership under which India could help us set up basic health and medical infrastructure while we would help them promote tourism," said Slaoui.

"We are in talks with Assocham, which will soon send a team to Morocco to study the possibilities of further development," he said.

"If things work out, we will soon be signing MoUs with the Indian industry in this regard. Besides, we will also be talking with the Gujarat government. The cost of treatment in India is almost three times cheaper than in the UK. Also, the waiting period for a simple surgery took even months in the UK, but we found that this was not the case in India," he added.