President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will address a biotech conference to be held in the US in mid-September via live teleconference, further underlining his administration's support for the development of biotechnology as Taiwan's next big high-tech industry, the US-ROC Business Council said yesterday.
"We have just come to an agreement with President Chen's office, he will be giving a live teleconference address at the plenary session on Tuesday, Sept. 18, including taking questions from the attendees," said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the Virginia-based US-ROC Business Council, in an e-mail to the Taipei Times. The event is dubbed the US-Taiwan Biotechnology Initiative.
The US-ROC Business Council and the American Institute in Taiwan organized a high level delegation of 20 Taiwanese government officials and business leaders to tour five states on the east coast of the US in September as part of the initiative.
The 10-day trip kicks off on Sept. 10, and includes stops in Virginia and New Jersey, and culminates with a trip to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts -- a hotbed of biotech activity in the US.
This tour marks the first time ever that US and Taiwanese biotechnology groups will meet under such circumstances, and organizers say the delegation will explore the US-mid Atlantic region's biotechnology sector, seek biotech partnerships and explore investment possibilities.
Yen-Shiang Shih, Director-General of the Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs will lead the delegation.
The heads of Taiwan's major research centers and government biotech industry promotion offices will also attend the event.
"The delegation to the Biotechnology Initiative represents the core of Taiwan's emerging biotechnology community. ... The success of Taiwan's technology industry over the past 25 years is an indicator of the sort of partner Taiwan will be to potential US interests in the biotechnology space," said Hammond-Chambers.
The government in Taiwan has already pledged to spend NT$52 billion over the next five years on promoting viable biotechnology ventures and research and development. Venture capitalists and other businesses have put together an additional US$3.9 billion for biotech investment.
With the combined monies, the Council for Economic Planning and Development believes Taiwan can incubate over 500 biotech firms in Taiwan over the next decade at a growth rate of 25 percent per annum.
During an interview with the Taipei Times last month, the head of the commercial section at the American Institute in Taiwan, Terry Cooke, said Taiwan could succeed in biotechnology "if it can align its capabilities properly."
RSS