Renuka Jagtiani, vice chairwoman of Landmark Group, says the company is planning to open 20 medical clinics in the Emirates in the next two years. (Paulo Vecina/The National)
Renuka Jagtiani, vice chairwoman of Landmark Group, says the company is planning to open 20 medical clinics in the Emirates in the next two years. (Paulo Vecina/The National)

Landmark taps $17bn market for health care with 20 clinics



Landmark Group, a retail and hospitality conglomerate, is branching out into the UAE healthcare sector for the first time.

The company, based in Dubai, plans to open 20 clinics across the country with an investment of Dh100 million (US$27.2m).

The unexpected move comes as total healthcare spending in the UAE is projected to reach as much as $17 billion by 2015.

Landmark yesterday outlined plans to open 20 primary healthcare clinics during the next two to three years. The company, which has a turnover of $4.7bn and owns retail brands including Babyshop and Home Centre, as well as Citymax hotels, is also aiming to expand its iCare clinics across the region.

"It's a risk at the end of the day," said Vipen Sethi, the chief executive of Landmark Group. "But it's not a major risk. Today it's a good line to get into."

Spending per capita in the UAE is among the top 20 in the world at more than $1,500, according to research by Deloitte.

The sector's contribution to GDP is expected to grow from an estimated 2.9 per cent last year to 3.4 per cent by 2015, according to the research.

Investments in facilities in the sector include the Cleveland Clinic, which is under development in Abu Dhabi. DM Healthcare Group this month announced it planned to roll out a new brand of budget clinics aimed at lower-income patients.

The UAE Government spent an estimated $8bn in 2010 and is believed to have spent 24 per cent of last year's federal budget on social and healthcare development, according to Deloitte.

Analysts say there is still huge scope for development in the healthcare sector in the region.

"In the last three years there has been some kind of awakening that we have been under-investing in health care and governments have been rushing to try to fill this gap," said Jad Bitar of Booz & Company.

But an increase in the cost of health care "has led governments to realise that they ... need to rely on the private sector to offer some of these services", he said.

Mr Bitar described Landmark Group's announcement as "a smart move", saying chains of clinics required relatively low capital expenditure and could achieve a return on investment quite rapidly.

"It is a sustainable business model because demand is there," he said.

Landmark's primary healthcare clinics are described as "affordable". Its first clinic launched yesterday in the Oasis Centre, a shopping mall on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. Its second clinic is expected to open in Discovery Gardens Dubai in a few days' time.

"The advantage for Landmark is that they already have strategic geographical positioning through their retail business, so it would be easy for them to capitalise on their geographic presence," said Prem Jagyasi, an independent healthcare consultant.

"The concept in western countries like a 'quick clinic' and 'minute clinic' is missing in Gulf countries," he said. "The primary healthcare system is the backbone of any healthcare system. As much as we need facilities for complicated surgery, we also require easy accessible, available and affordable services which are provided by primary healthcare."

Renuka Jagtiani, the vice chairwoman of Landmark Group and the wife of the company founder and chairman Micky Jagtiani, pointed out that there were some parallels between the retail and healthcare sectors.

"We don't consider it very different because healthcare is also about the customer," Ms Jagtiani said.

"It's about understanding the customer, understanding what value is for that customer and catering to the need."

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Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE

There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.

It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.

What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.

When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.

It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.

This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.

It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.

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The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience

by David Gilmour

Allen Lane

Company profile

Date started: Founded in May 2017 and operational since April 2018

Founders: co-founder and chief executive, Doaa Aref; Dr Rasha Rady, co-founder and chief operating officer.

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: Health-tech

Size: 22 employees

Funding: Seed funding 

Investors: Flat6labs, 500 Falcons, three angel investors

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