[7][8] In 2008, Indonesians comprised 75% of all foreign patients receiving care in Malaysia; Europeans, 3%; Japanese, 3%; Singaporeans, 1% and citizens from Middle Eastern countries, 1%.
In 2009, the Ministry of Health set up the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) to replace the NCPMHT and to serve as the primary agency to promote and develop the country's medical tourism industry as well as position Malaysia as a healthcare hub in the Southeast Asian/ASEAN region.
[15] The Malaysian government's investment tax allowance has encouraged private health care facilities promoting medical tourism to invest in internationally recognized accreditation schemes (e.g. Joint Commission International and Malaysian Society for Quality in Healthcare) and medical equipment in order to develop ‘world-class’, technology-intensive private health care facilities and ensure care standards considered necessary to attract medical tourists.
[16] As a nation, Malaysia and its non-governmental organizations, medical centres and facilitators have won numerous awards.
The ETP designated health care as one of the country's 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) deemed to have the potential to spur growth.