Before COVID-19, Southeast Asia’s healthcare ecosystem was already ballooning thanks to three key trends: a large middle income consumer class, demand for better healthcare, and higher longevity rates.

UOB expects 65% of Southeast Asia’s population to be middle class – defined by daily expenditure of US$10 to US$100 – by 2030, with 60% under 35 years of age.

With non-emergent procedures being delayed throughout the two-year pandemic, there has been increased acceptance of healthtech measures, from telemedicine, employee wellbeing and even genetics and diagnostic health.

As a result, the healthtech scene in the region, which was valued at US$37 billion in 2020, is set to hit the US$100 billion mark by 2025.

Malaysia’s long-term leadership in healthcare travel as well as its robust public and private healthcare systems have helped it constantly rank first in the world as a retirement living destination.

Today, Greater KL is home to a strong ecosystem of healthtech startups, which are leveraging the city’s top-notch health facilities while bringing Malaysian healthcare expertise to the wider Southeast Asian and Asia Pacific region.