Saudi Arabia funds $ 40 million training hospital in Colombo 

(MENAFN - Arab News) The Kingdom is to fund the construction of a state-of-the-art and internationally accredited nurses' training institute in Colombo under a joint venture program, a senior official from the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) told Arab News yesterday from Colombo.

The agreement for the joint venture was signed between SLBFE Chairman Amal Senalankadikara and Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Health Investment Company Dr. Mohammed Ameen last week in Jeddah.

Speaking from Colombo, Senalankadikara told Arab News that this is the first such joint venture to be worked out between the two countries in the health sector.

The chairman said the nurses' training institute is to be constructed in Sri Lanka shortly at a cost of 40 million. The facility, the first in the country, will include a nurses' training college, a 100-bed hospital, hi- tech laboratories among others and would focus on training nurses for overseas employment.
Saudi Health Investment Company (SHIC) will invest in the facility. Authorities in Colombo will seek US expertise in training nurses in line with best global practices.

According to the agreement SLBFE will take necessary steps to secure jobs in overseas health institutions for nurses who graduate from the facility.
The chairman explained there was a high demand for quality nurses in the global employment market and the facility to be established would help a large number of nurses wanting to work abroad in obtaining necessary qualifications in line with expected international standards.

He added SLBFE has already negotiated with a number of countries in Europe, the Middle East and the United States to obtain jobs for Sri Lankan nurses.

He said the project is being handled under the guidance of Sri Lankan Foreign Employment Promotions and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera.
The official said SLBFE would find suitable land for SHIC to construct the institute that would also house a 100-bed teaching hospital. "We will give them the land and SHIC will fund the construction and equipping the institute.

Senalankadikara said the package also includes a Gulf Medical Center to be run by SHIC. Such a center will be affiliated to the GCC Approved Medical Centers' Association (GAMCA), a body affiliated to the GCC Health Ministers Secretariat headquartered in Riyadh.

It is mandatory in Sri Lanka that all workers who come for employment in the Gulf countries should undergo a medical test at one of the clinics recommended by the GAMCA. Around 15 such centers are currently found in the country.

SLBFE is a statutory body based in Colombo to look after the welfare of the country's overseas workers. Some 2 million Lankan workers are spread out throughout the globe and 1.5 million of them are deployed in the Middle East. It has its branches and workers training centers in major cities in the country.
It is a statutory requirement that every Sri Lankan workers who leaves the shore for foreign employment should register with the bureau, which in turn would look after the interests of the registrants while they are working abroad.

The Jeddah-based SHIC is the leading company in the field of health care investment in the Middle East, providing health care services, and development of health care organization. Its business activities consist of health investment, projects and medical centers management, and providing related consultation services.