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Business leaders learn about nanotechnology

Business representatives in southern Taiwan yesterday said that full support from the government and research organizations would be crucial to future industrial transformation.

Showing their eagerness to hear the latest information about nanotechnology research, more than 500 representatives of diverse industries attended a panel discussion on nanotechnology research held by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Kaohsiung yesterday.

Representatives said that they sensed signs of an economic recovery, but what they needed urgently was full support from both the government and research organizations to promote nanotechnology, which is innovative and will soon be closely linked to daily life.

"Japan in particular has focused on making nanotechnology applicable to a diverse number of industries" said Chen Wen-yuan (陳文源), chairman of the Kaohsiung Chamber of Industry (高雄市工業會).

"We hope the Taiwanese government and the ITRI will also copy the Japanese way of transferring nanotechnology to industry," Chen said.

Since January 2000 when then-US President Bill Clinton announced the US National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), an increasing awareness of nanotechnology as one of the most important technologies for the 21st century has lead to substantial increases in related nanotech funding in several Asian countries.

Many of them -- such as Japan, China and South Korea -- have launched various national government programs. Last year, Japan vowed to make related technologies practical within 10 years.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's national nanotechnology program is expected to launch officially next year and its estimated expense from now until 2007 will be about NT$19.2 billion.

The event held yesterday in Kaohsiung was the starting point of a series of panel discussions conducted by the ITRI on the latest information about nanotechnology research.

By the end of March, the ITRI will share the newest information on nanotechnology research with industry leaders in Tainan, Taichung, Hsinchu and Taipei.

Nanotechnology involves the creation and utilization of materials, devices and systems through the control and manipulation of matter at the nanometer scale, that is, at the level of atoms, molecules and supramolecular structures.

A nanometer -- one billionth of a meter -- is about 10,000 times narrower than a human hair and about four times wider than an atom.

Yang Jih-chang (楊日昌), ITRI Executive vice president, said that Taiwan's competitiveness in the future would rely on current efforts in promoting nanotechnology.

Yang, also the director of newly formed ITRI Nanotechnology Research Center, said that the center would spend at least NT$700 million this year to promote research pertaining to information storage, integrated circuits, displays, opto-communications, micro fuel-cells and other technologies.

Yang said that diverse industries in Taiwan would eventually be influenced by the future application of nanotechnology, because the revolutionary technology will make it possible to produce smarter computers, anti-dust paints, anti-ultraviolet fibers and other things.

"About NT$90 billion in output in traditional industries, such as textiles ... will be seen within three years," Yang claimed.

Kao Kuo-lun (高國倫), managing director of the Kaohsiung-based Eternal Chemical Company (長興化工), said yesterday that the company had applied the results of nanomaterials research to its products, such as paint.

"The application of nanotechnology can not only upgrade existing products, but also create additional value," Kao said.
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