Head of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Mines Mohammad Nahavandian underlined Iran’s high capacity for attracting tourists who come to the country for medical purposes, and said that the country is increasing its global share in the sector.
Speaking to reporters about the 1st Conference on Healthy Travel of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) here in Tehran on Monday, Nahavandian said that advanced countries are increasingly focusing on exporting services, including medical services as a means of income instead of exporting products.
Pointing to Iran’s medical capabilities, the official noted, “Our country, too, enjoys a significant capacity for attracting tourist in the medicare sector in the region both in terms of the quality of medical services and costs.”
Nahavandian then noted the capacities of Iran’s Southern province of Fars and its interactions with nationals from Persian Gulf littoral states, and added that the province is a pioneer in medical tourism and has a successful historical background in the filed.
“In addition to Fars, Tehran, Khorassan Razavi and East Azarbaijan and a number of other provinces enjoy remarkable capabilities in this regard that should be boosted,” Nahavandian noted.
He also said that the relations between Iran and the D8 and ECO (Economic Cooperation Organization) member states will have major effects on the country’s medical tourism.
Nahavandian also said that Tehran has already initiated proper measures to facilitate visit to Iran by foreign patients and other measures are underway in this regard.
He also announced that the Iranian holy city of Mashhad in Northeastern Iran will host the first “Healthy travel” conference of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on November 2-4 and that around 80 representatives of the 57 OIC member-countries will attend the event.
Fars News