November 24, 2024

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Q&A "Viksit Bharat in reach if female workers increase"

Franziska Ohnsorge, the World Bank's Chief Economist for South Asia, on trends in female labour force participation rate, policy measures, and more BY SURABHI PHOTO BY HARDIK CHHABRA THE WORLD BANK'S `South Asia Development Update October 2024: Women, Jobs and Growth' said that raising female labour force participation rates in the region to those of men would increase regional GDP by up to 51%. In an interview with Business Today, Franziska Ohnsorge, the World Bank's Chief Economist for South Asia, underscores that this is entirely possible through societal and economic support. Edited excerpts: The report highlights the low female labour force participation rate (LFPR) in South Asian countries, partly due to societal norms. But even in other East Asian and African countries, it's largely women who perform household chores. What is the difference between these regions? It is really striking how low the female LFPR is in South Asia compared to the rest of the world. All South Asian countries

"India presents tremendous growth opportunities for IHH"

IHH Healthcare Group CEO Prem Kumar Nair on the India story, the next big opportunity, and more PHOTOS BY BANDEEP SINGH Singapore-based IHH Healthcare, which reported revenues of $4.55 billion in 2023, owns hospital chains Fortis Healthcare and Gleneagles in India. It had acquired a 31.17% stake in Fortis Healthcare in 2018, while it bought a 73.4% stake in Global Hospitals in 2015 and later renamed it Gleneagles. IHH plans to increase bed capacity at its hospitals in India from 7,000 to nearly 10,000, says Prem Kumar Nair, Group CEO, IHH Healthcare. In an interview with Business Today's Neetu Chandra Sharma during a recent visit to India, Nair, 63, who took charge in October 2023, talks about IHH's M&A strategy, the opportunities in India, and exploring new markets, among other things. Edited excerpts: Q: How does IHH plan to leverage its investments in Fortis and Gleneagles to drive growth in India over the next five years? A: IHH is one of the largest healthcare groups globally. We operate more than 80 hospitals with a workforce of 70,000 across 10 countries. Historically, our founding markets were Singapore and Malaysia, with the Parkway and Pantai brands, which were later rebranded. We then acquired Acibadem and took the company public. Fortis was our next major acquisition... As a physician, I can see that India performs a lot of advanced clinical work, such as robotics and complex transplants, with very good patient outcomesFortis, in particular, has undergone significant transformation. Despite its past challenges, it is currently performing well operationally... Fortis has shed some less profitable assets, acquired new ones, particularly in the National Capital Region, and is expanding, with plans to add nearly 2,000 more beds over the next five years. We have also recapitalised Gleneagles, which is almost entirely under our control now, and we are expanding several of its facilitiesQ: What are the opportunities the Indian market offers? What is your growth strategy, including inorganic growth? A: India presents tremendous growth opportunities for us. Although we talk about 7,000 beds here, we will likely reach close to 10,000 beds over time. This is a reflection of the scale we envision for India, which is now a very integral part of IHH's strategy. Fortis has made impressive progress in terms of profitability. When we