Container ports and airports

These industries have been found in literature and through interviews with company officials during my research stay in Malaysia. 

Porter (1990, p. 75) already mentioned Singapore as a leading country for port services. 

Cost advantage Equipment employed in Singapore has a relatively large cost reduction potential. Turnover of containers in the Singapore port is threefold the turnover in the largest European, American and Japanese ports. Since equipment is not standardised, cost of equipment is likely to decrease after it is adopted in Singapore. 

For instance, Thailand s Bumrungrad hospital, with 554 beds one of the largest private hospitals in Southeast Asia, offers foreign patients medical treatment and health screening. Health care vacations will be introduced by travel agents and airlines will be aimed at the business traveller market. 

Market structure advantage Conq)etition in the medical industry is much more intense in Southeast Asian countries than in western countries, where hospitals are state-owned and most of the health care sector is highly regulated. In Asia private hospitals are common and preferred by high-skilled doctors and nurses. Even public hospitals are competitive. Competition comes from medical centres run by entrepreneurial doctors. In Europe private hospitals are rare and mandatory medical insurance prevents competition between health institutions, leaving few ince n-tives for hospitals to provide additional nursing and related convenience services. 

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