Healthcare, travel and financial services are being combined to support patients with hospital selection, travel arrangements, visas and medical payments
A new partnership between the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, Prime Bank PLC and Irving Aviation Limited aims to make medical travel from Bangladesh to Malaysia easier by coordinating services that patients would otherwise have to arrange separately.
The three organisations signed a cooperation agreement in Dhaka on 22 September. The initiative brings together healthcare information and hospital connections with travel coordination, visa assistance, air ticketing and financial services.
The agreement comes as Bangladesh is becoming an increasingly important source market for Malaysia's international healthcare sector. Nearly 70,000 Bangladeshi healthcare travellers visited Malaysia in 2025, according to MHTC, generating approximately RM50 million in healthcare travel revenue.
Connecting patients with Malaysian hospitals
Under the partnership, MHTC will help connect Bangladeshi patients with Malaysian hospitals and healthcare institutions while providing access to information about healthcare services and possible treatment pathways.
The objective is to create a more coordinated journey from the initial search for an appropriate healthcare provider through to travelling to Malaysia for treatment.
Dato' Suriagandhi Suppiah, Chief Executive Officer of MHTC, said the collaboration combines the capabilities of the three partners to make healthcare travel between Bangladesh and Malaysia more accessible and convenient.
Travel coordination and visa assistance
Irving Aviation will handle the travel-related component of the patient journey as MHTC's local partner in Bangladesh.
Its services will include travel coordination, visa assistance and air ticketing as well as initial enquiries concerning medical services. Having a local contact point is intended to reduce the organisational burden on patients preparing for treatment abroad.
The model highlights the growing importance of specialised travel services within medical tourism. International patients frequently need more than transportation alone, particularly when treatment requires coordination between hospitals, travel providers, immigration procedures and accompanying family members.
Financial services become part of the patient journey
Prime Bank will address another practical aspect of cross-border treatment: paying medical expenses overseas.
The bank plans to facilitate healthcare-related financial transactions and explore card-based payment facilities. Depending on applicable conditions, the cooperation could also include benefits or discounts for customers seeking treatment in Malaysia.
Combining financial services with travel and healthcare coordination could help reduce some of the administrative complexity associated with international treatment, particularly where patients need to arrange substantial payments across borders.
Bangladesh grows as a healthcare travel market
The partnership follows a broader effort by Malaysia to strengthen its presence in Bangladesh. Malaysia Healthcare Week was held in Dhaka and Chattogram in September, bringing Malaysian hospitals and other healthcare stakeholders together with potential partners in the country.
According to MHTC, healthcare travel revenue generated by Bangladeshi patients increased by 24 percent in 2025. The organisation is consequently seeking to strengthen referral pathways, professional networks and relationships connecting patients in Bangladesh with Malaysian healthcare providers.
The latest partnership extends this strategy beyond the medical service itself. By bringing healthcare access, travel organisation, visa support and payment services into a more coordinated framework, the initiative addresses several of the practical barriers patients face when arranging treatment abroad.
For the medical travel industry, it also illustrates a wider shift in travel services: the international patient journey is increasingly being treated as an integrated process extending from the first medical enquiry to travel, payment and arrival at the destination.
Image Credit: © AI generated illustration
