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Publish Date : 29-Jul-2013

Toshiba Corporation and 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a strategic development company wholly owned by the government of Malaysia, today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which they will explore the introduction of Toshiba's carbon ion radiotherapy system to Malaysia.

The signing ceremony was held today in the presence Mr. Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan and Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The MoU covers two phases: an initial evaluation of the feasibility of the overall project followed by a study of the design concept. The MoU was signed within the framework of medical infrastructure package export strategy that the Japanese government is promoting in a public-private partnership.

"Carbon ion radiotherapy is a powerful tool in the battle against cancer, and we look forward to the opportunity to introduce our state-of-the-art system technologies to Malaysia," said Yasuharu Igarashi, Corporate Executive Vice President of Toshiba.

"We will work closely with 1MDB on this project and look forward to reaching conclusion that will bring the benefits of advanced medical treatment to the people of Malaysia."

1MDB aims to help create a sustainable Malaysian economy by investing in high impact projects in four core sectors: real estate, energy, tourism and agriculture. It is the master developer of financial and economic centre Tun Razak Exchange and is the second largest independent power producer in Malaysia.

"This project dovetails with our mandate to bring new sources of growth to the country," said Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman, Managing Director and CEO of 1MDB.

"It offers us the potential to expand into another of our key target sectors via medical tourism, while breaking new ground in treatment of cancer for the Malaysian public."

Malaysia's economic growth and development continues to progress, with per-capita nominal GDP passing the US$10,000 mark in 2012. This has spurred increasing interest in high-tech medical services, both in the domestic sector and to promote a continued increase in medical tourism, which is expected to become a US$200 million market in Malaysia this year.

There are currently only six carbon ion radiotherapy centers in operation in the world – three in Japan and one each in China, Germany and Italy. Five new centers are under construction – two in Japan and China respectively and one in Austria.

Toshiba is a recognized leader in carbon ion radiotherapy. In Japan, the company has installed a cutting-edge system in the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS), which takes the lead in developing and promoting carbon ion radiotherapy in Japan, and has also received an order from Kanagawa Cancer Center in Yokohama, which it is now fulfilling.

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