Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The construction of Bali International Hospital in the Sanur tourism area, Denpasar city, officially began as Indonesian President Joko Widodo conducted a groundbreaking on Monday (Dec. 27).

The construction of the international hospital is done in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic in the United States (US), which is a non-profit academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research.

In his remarks, the head of state expressed his hope that the location of Bali International Hospital would become Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for the heath sector.

The president said that every year at least two million Indonesians go abroad to get health cares.

He said, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and the United States were among the destination countries for Indonesian people to get health treatments.

"We lost 97 trillion rupiahs (some 6.8 billion U.S. dollars) because of that," the president noted.

He appreciated State-owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir who initiated the construction of the international class hospital with the aim of promoting Bali to become a health tourism destination.

The president said that the construction of the hospital is expected to be completed and operate in the middle of 2023.

In addition, he hoped that Indonesia would no longer import medical devices, medicines, and medicinal raw materials as the country optimize its efforts to produce them domestically.

Reporting by Indonesia Window