CAMBODIAN nurses, doctors and medical students will have the chance to study on exchange programs at Sime Darby Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with the opening of a representative office this week in Phnom Penh.

According to Wu Chin Huei, chief executive of Sime Darby Healthcare, the clinic at Parkway Centre on Mao Tse Toung Boulevard will offer health checks and consultations.

But its major advantage, she stressed, was that exchange programs would allow medical staff to train at the main Kuala Lumpur hospital, which has latest technologies for treating cancer and heart disease. The 390-bed hospital has more than 800 employees and 200 doctors who have been internationally trained.

“We welcome foreign institutions to play a complementary role in the Cambodian healthcare services where we need more time to promote and improve,” said Dr Thir Kruy, a secretary at the Health Ministry at the ceremony to launch the office.

“We believe that our health services will become better and stronger through learning from each other,” he added.

Sime Darby’s chief executive outlined the advantages of opting for operations in its Malaysian headquarters. “We are definitely cheaper than other countries. Our cost for any procedure or surgery is 20 percent to 30 percent cheaper,” said Wu Chin Huei.

“It’s only two hours to fly from Phnom Penh to Kuala Lumpur and we have cars to pick patients up from the airport to the hospital, where the excellent treatment options can be tailored to each illness,” she said.

“Because we are neighbours with similar food, culture and incomes, we hope our cooperation will improve in future. Our staff speak English and Mandarin, which many Cambodian people speak. Moreover, we also have Khmer interpreters in Malaysia,” said Wu Chin Huei.

TRANSLATION BY HONG RAKSMEY