Saudi Arabia needs to introduce more methods for private financing for hospitals if it is to cater for a rapid growth in demand, Construction Week’s Social Infrastructure 2014 has heard.
Mounir Marhaba, president of Executive Consulting & Knowledge Broking Services, has said the market in Saudi Arabia for new hospital builds is currently potentially the most active in the world, with the Kingdom responsible for around 20% of the major hospital builds taking place worldwide.
Marhaba, who has worked on a number of major hospitals in the Kingdom including King Khalid Medical City as the owner’s representative, said that demand for hospital beds is set to grow from 51,000-70,000 and the number of major hospital projects set to grow from 364 to 502.
This is due partly to a rapidly-expanding population that is set to grow by more than 20% over the next three years, and also the country’s increasing wealth, which means people are living longer.
Marhaba pointed out that there are currently around 11,135 private sector beds in the Kingdom, which is 22% of the total. The other 78% are provided by the government, which spends $9.8bn a year on hospitals, compared to $3.2bn by the private sector.
“The only way Saudi Arabia can move forwards is to partner with private sector,” he said. “The structure that exists here is not sustainable on a cost level.”
Construction Week’s Social Infrastructure Summit 2014 is taking place today (Tuesday) at the Hotel Al Khozama in Riyadh. An in-depth review of the conference will appear in issue 544 of Construction Week.
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