KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Bhd, via its property arm, is considering building a hospital in Putrajaya, the administrative capital of Malaysia, to bolster its leadership in the healthcare sector.
Sunway Property managing director Sarena Cheah told Business Times that if everything goes as planned, it will be the first private hospital in Putrajaya.
The first medical facility there is the government-owned Putrajaya Hospital, founded in 1998, which currently has 369 beds.
The potential development is strategically important since Sunway Healthcare Group (SHG), the group's medical division, operates a robust network of hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout Malaysia, boasting a total bed capacity of over 3,000.
SHG has continued to grow in Klang Valley (Kota Damansara), Johor (Sunway City Iskandar Puteri), Ipoh (Sunway City Ipoh), Kelantan (Kota Bahru), and Penang (Paya Terubong) in the wake of the success of Sunway Medical Centre in Klang Valley (Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, Sunway Velocity) and Penang, Seberang Jaya.
Last week, Sunway Property signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd, the master developer of Putrajaya, to collaborate on the development of key commercial strategic land parcels in Precincts 7 and 8.
Cheah said the MOU lays the foundation for future collaboration with organisations in various fields, including property development, education, healthcare and hospitality.
Regarding the gross development value of the Putrajaya project, Cheah said the MoU's signing signifies the parties' intention to collaborate on the development of premium commercial land parcels with Putrajaya Holdings.
"Putrajaya Holdings invited us to explore the development of undeveloped land in Precinct 7 and 8. We intend to leverage our unique build-own-operate business model to advance the growth and progress of the community there.
"We are currently exploring medical, education, commercial, and hospitality for development. We are conducting feasibility studies on what synergies we can derive from our collaborative expertise," she said.
According to Cheah, Sunway Property would be able to ascertain the project's worth and completion date as soon as the feasibility studies, which signal the start of the project lifecycle, are underway.
"Due diligence will be conducted as part of the collaborative effort. Funding will be discussed as part of the collaborative effort," she said.
Cheah said the collaboration offers a chance to provide creative and sustainable development solutions that will support the expansion and advancement of the local Putrajaya community.
Sunway Property has developed more than 5,000 acres of integrated complexes nationwide to date, including Sunway Velocity, Sunway City Ipoh, Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, and Sunway City Iskandar Puteri.