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New biotech center may boost sector

Foreign and local businesses interested in Taiwan's biotechnology sector will soon have a one-stop center aimed at cutting through government bureaucracy to speed up investment projects, the local press reported yesterday. The new center will open on Monday.

The center will have its share of competition with other government agencies already jockeying to lead the nation's burgeoning biotech sector.

"Knowing that there are already many government agencies trying to take the lead in [Taiwan's] biotechnology development, the concept of a one-stop biotechnology location or agency will only work if these organizations collaborate," said David Silver, president of Biotecheast.com, a Taiwan focused biotechnology Web site.

Other foreign biotech industry pundits in Taipei reacted with surprise to the news, with several saying they knew nothing of the planned center.

Established by the Executive Yuan, a central aim of the center is to improve coordination among Taiwan's research institutes and government-related agencies.

"Judging from past history, this will not be easy," Silver said.

The government-run biotechnology sector is already a confusing mix, with at least five Ministry of Economic Affairs' agencies already performing similar functions in overseeing the industry.

The related agencies include the Development Center for Biotechnology, the Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Investment Programs Office, and now the one-stop center, which will be under the Committee for Biotech and Pharmaceutical Industries Development. Two other government agencies and three research groups also exert influence over the biotech sector.

If the new center is able to cut through all the red tape, it will be a great help to the biotech sector, Silver said.

One foreign executive said his drug company had considered investing in Taiwan until it discovered the process for approval could take up to two years. After trudging through the approval process, the deal could still fall through at the last minute, as German drugmaker Bayer discovered three years ago.

His firm opted to setup shop in Singapore where a one-stop government office for biotechnology already existed.

Bayer's plans were stymied at the last minute by a local official after the firm had successfully navigated through the workings of Taiwan's bureaucracy -- which at the time included both the national and provincial government.

After nearly two years of negotiations, Bayer's plan to build a pharmaceutical plant in Taichung Harbor was axed by a local official, Liao Yung-lai (廖永來), Taichung County commissioner at the time.

Taiwan's one-stop center will be headed by Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) Directorate General Shih Yen-hsiang (施顏祥).

The IDB operates under the Ministry of Economic Affairs. It is charged with aiding investment plans and coordinating related government agencies.

A spokesman for the center said Taiwan's investment in biotechnology will surpass NT$20 billion by the end of this year, up over 100 percent from last year.

Taiwan has already set aside NT$52 billion for biotechnology investment over the next five years.

Tsai Ching-yen (蔡清彥), minister without portfolio, said that a plan to invest another NT$100 billion to develop five industries including biotechnology over the same time period was submitted to the Cabinet for approval yesterday.
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