Apollo Hospitals on Thursday announced its foray into Uzbekistan by signing an MoU with the Marafon Group to set up a tertiary care hospital in the Central Asian country. Apollo Hospitals will be the first Indian hospital group to set up a tertiary care hospital in Uzbekistan.

Led by a team of young entrepreneurs, the Marafon Group has varied interests in technology, infrastructure, healthcare, banking and trade. It already operates over nine medical and diagnostic centres. 

“It’s a strategic collaboration. The Marafon Group will be the holding company, which makes the investment. Apollo comes as the strategic partner to provide technical, clinical, operations and management (O&M), governance,” Dinesh Madhavan, President, Group Oncology & International, Apollo Hospital Enterprises, said in an event held in the city. 

“The overall investment in Phase I, in addition to what the Marafon Group has invested in the structure and land, will be over $30 million for the tertiary care facility. Once it expands to Phase 2, we will be reviewing it based on the needs of the project,” he added. 

The new facility, to be located at Fergana region, will be a state-of-the-art tertiary care hospital with 100 beds in Phase I, with a capacity to increase to more than 200 beds.

“Our vision is to touch a billion lives across the globe and also ensure the Apollo clinical excellence globally. We take immense pride in joining hands with Marafon Group to provide tertiary care services to over 60 million people of Uzbekistan and its neighbouring countries thus improving access to quality healthcare,” said Prathap C Reddy, Founder & Chairman, Apollo Hospitals India.

Apollo Hospitals will offer technical consulting, clinical excellence, commissioning and BOMA (Branding, Operations and Management Agreement) of the tertiary care hospital in Uzbekistan. Through this partnership, Apollo Hospitals aims to provide quality healthcare for over 60 million people of Uzbekistan and bordering regions of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

Preetha Reddy, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals, India, said that the tertiary care hospital will primarily focus on oncology, organ transplants, urology, neurosurgery, cardiology and high end diagnostic.

“It’s a matter of pride for us to be associated with Apollo Hospitals, the global leader in healthcare, and a unique integrated healthcare enterprise. This project is in line with our mission to develop our country, bring about positive change, and revolutionise healthcare offering in the region,” said Nurillo Mamasadikov, Co-founder, Marafon Group.