JAKARTA - Malaysia’s healthcare travel market is still drawing foreign patients despite a 6% sales and service tax on private healthcare for non-citizens, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said on May 18.

According to Malaysia’s state-owned agency Bernama’s report published the same day, the comments point to continued regional demand for Malaysia’s private hospitals as the country pushes medical tourism alongside Visit Malaysia 2026.

Amir Hamzah said private hospitals in Penang, Johor and the Klang Valley continued to receive foreign patients. He made the remarks in George Town after visiting Intel’s Pelican Project in Bayan Lepas. “This is a growing space that we should continue to support,” Hamzah told reporters.

Malaysia began applying the 6% Sales and Service Tax (SST) to private healthcare services for non-citizens from July 1 last year while Malaysians remain exempt. Amir Hamzah said the measure was introduced to increase the government’s revenue base and improve fiscal space, with exemptions used where necessary to avoid burdening the population.

Tourism Malaysia and the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) have previously signed a cooperation agreement in Kuala Lumpur on December 5 last year to align Visit Malaysia 2026 with Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism 2026, aiming to attract higher-value healthcare travellers from ASEAN, South Asia, China, the Middle East and Africa.

Malaysia recorded RM3.34 billion in healthcare travel revenue and welcomed 1.84 million healthcare travellers in 2025, according to a Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council release published via Bernama MREM on March 18.

MHTC separately said Myanmar patient demand was rising, with health tourists from Myanmar to Malaysia increasing 117% in 2025, from 2,901 to 6,285, ahead of Malaysia Healthcare Week Yangon 2026. The council also cited a broader “healthcare traveller” figure of more than 44,000.