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| Sultan Batterjee ... exploring possibilities |
Qatar’s ambitious plans for future development should lead to a significant increase in the number of healthcare facilities, believes a visiting expert, who said that he has been impressed with the government’s strategies for encouraging growth.
International Hotels Construction Company (IHCC) CEO Sultan Batterjee explained that he has been meeting officials at Qatari Diar to discuss the possibility of building a new hospital at Lusail.
He explained that the project is currently only at the discussion stage, with no agreements having been signed as of yet, but he is looking into the prospects of working on a new hospital in the near future.
“We came and we met with Qatari Diar officials who took us to Lusail. They took us through what they have in mind in terms of building and managing a hospital and they told us that they would like to use our services and expertise to advise them what to do with this project,” he said, adding “we have all the required information and we will go back to study what should be done in this location and what Qatar needs.”
“We are a turnkey healthcare and education solution provider and we take projects from the concept through to the end,” he said, explaining that the company works with partners from across the world to bring the best technology to the region and has worked on projects worth over QR2bn in the region. We are keen to grow further and that is why we are here in Doha.”
Batterjee emphasised the importance of evaluating the needs of the local market when planning healthcare projects and praised government officials for being open to recommendations from experts in the field and adapting their plans accordingly.
“Qatar is a growing country and healthcare is good here, I am sure that people are satisfied with what they have,” he said, “but they need to improve in terms of building new facilities – there have to be more initiatives and projects.”
Batterjee argued that it is important that Qatari healthcare professionals try to specialise in fields which will appeal to people from the wider region. “The number of Qataris is so small that they need to be trying to attract people from the region,” he said, adding “I would love for someone to tap into the field of autism as it is something that is very important and is not being dealt with in the region.”
He also noted the significance of recovery clinics and helping people to overcome both physical and psychiatric problems – such as autism - through rehabilitative programmes. “People should focus on rehabilitation, this is what is needed in the region,” he said, arguing “I think this is very important.”
IHCC has also designed and built that largest ‘Gold’s Gym’ in the world, and this is an area the company could look into developing in Qatar as part of the country’s major focus on sports, according to its CEO.
Batterjee also discussed the possibility of working on medical education projects here in the future. “I see a good future for Qatar,” he said. “Qatar is really focussing on education and we would really like to be part of that education, using the experience we have already gained.”
