LKL International hopes 2019 Budget will enhance healthcare services

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- Hospital furniture manufacturer LKL International Bhd (LKI) hopes that the 2019 Budget will include initiatives to enhance the country’s healthcare services and hospital bed-to-population ratio.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is scheduled to table the Budget 2019 in Parliament on Nov 2.

In a statement today, LKL said in 2015, the hospital bed-to-population ratio in Malaysia stood at 1.9 bed per 1,000 people, lagging behind the international standard of 2.5 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

Managing Director Lim Kon Lian said the group would be investing in new manufacturing capacities and capabilities to meet the growing requirements of public and private healthcare.

“There is a significant gap to close in Malaysia’s hospital bed-to-population ratio to ensure that the people have reliable access to quality healthcare,” he said.

Lim said the issue would become even more acute in the future, as 20 per cent of Malaysia’s population will be over 60 years old by 2050.

“Therefore, we hope the government will address this concern by allocating more resources for healthcare facilities, in addition to incentives to encourage investments from the private sector,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said the company planned to build a four-storey steel structure extension at its manufacturing facilities in Seri Kembangan to boost production capacity and capabilities.

To be completed by 2021, the extension is estimated to cost RM6.7 million, and will increase the total built-up area of the company’s manufacturing plants by more than 40 per cent to 1.19 hectares from 0.85 hectares currently, Lim said.

“The healthcare sector, like any other sector, needs to evolve to adopt new technologies to provide better patient care and diagnosis.

“Going forward, we will continue to look out for more medical/healthcare products to extend our product range to enable us to keep up with the increasingly complex requirements of the healthcare sector towards providing better services,” he said.

-- BERNAMA