Speakers at a panel discussion on Việt Nam’s healthcare sector at the 2025 Hospital Management Asia conference in HCM City. — Photo courtesy of the organiser

HCM CITY — After making enormous progress over the last two decades, Việt Nam is emerging as an international hub for high-quality healthcare, and is positioning itself to compete at the regional level.

This was highlighted at the 2025 Hospital Management Asia (HMA 2025) conference, held recently in HCM City.

HMA 2025 brought together more than 1,200 delegates from 30 countries and territories, including over 100 leading experts, hospital executives and healthcare policymakers who spoke.

Many presentations underlined Việt Nam’s achievements in the health sector.

Professor Anupam Sibal of India’s Apollo Hospitals Group said since national reunification 50 years ago, Việt Nam has achieved impressive milestones. Its infant and maternal mortality rates have dropped to very low levels and medical tourism has grown by an average of 12 per cent a year, attracting more than 300,000 overseas patients and generating around US$2 billion in revenues annually, he said. 

Dr Jean-Marcel Guillon, CEO of FV Hospital, one of the first wholly foreign-owned hospitals in Việt Nam, said the country’s healthcare sector has advanced rapidly with the rise of modern hospitals, adoption of patient-centred care models and development of skilled medical practitioners.

He said he was delighted at how the country’s health system has evolved from limited infrastructure in the late 1990s to the establishment of many modern hospitals offering comprehensive care.

Việt Nam has strong potential in medical tourism with its affordable costs, high-quality expertise, short waiting times, and patient-friendly services, he said.

But realising this potential would require stronger government backing through a coherent national strategy, streamlined administrative and legal processes and closer links between healthcare and tourism, he said.

HMA, one of the region’s leading healthcare forums, supports hospital owners, executives, clinicians, and healthcare leaders in improving outcomes and efficiency, while also serving as a platform for sharing innovations in hospital management and medicine. — VNS