Turkey to ease visa requirements for medical tourism

By Deniz Cicek Palabiyik

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Friday authorized the Services Exporters' Association (HIB) in the country to ease visa requirements for foreign visitors coming to Turkey for medical tourism.

Trade Ministry and Foreign Ministry signed an agreement, the Medical Visa Cooperation Protocol, to authorize the HIB.

Yavuz Selim Kiran, the deputy foreign minister, said the medical tourism market has been expanding rapidly in the world and that Turkey would make use of the opportunities in this field.

Deputy Trade Minister Mustafa Tuzcu stressed that Turkey hosted around 1 million patients in the last 10 years.

He noted that the country aimed to earn $3 billion of income in the medical tourism sector by 2023.

*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul