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German institute seeks Dh998.3m Dubai investment

DUBAI — A neuroscience institute in Germany is seeking a property developer that would invest Dh998.3 million for a medical centre in Dubai specialising in the treatment of diseases involving the brain, spine and peripheral nervous system.

Professor Gunter Willital, chair of the International Neuroscience Institute (INI) in Hannover, said the centre's equipment would be worth some Dh2 billion, the bulk of which will be shouldered by Siemens, while the computer-database shall be provided by Microsoft.

Dr Willital said the project could be financed either by the government or any private companies. He added that the arrangement could be a build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme, or anything that would work well for the parties concerned. Called 'The Dubai Unique Medical Project', the centre would focus on preventive treatment, or early diagnosis of probable diseases, the training of medical personnel with an end-view of technology and knowledge transfer, and medical research.

A well-known specialist in children's surgery, Dr Willital said it is imperative that probable diseases be diagnosed early in children so that they would grow up to be healthy adults. "The idea is to have a leading centre here in Dubai for high technology, especially on diseases affecting children's health that is often neglected," he said.