Incubators to nurture talent: Lee

Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) yesterday said that the government is planning to create a national technology incubator to bring together talent, research and venture capitalists.

"The incubator will upgrade the nation's research and development efforts into a working industry," Lee told a luncheon with members of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC, 工商協進會) yesterday.

Lee yesterday gave a one-hour speech on nurturing high-tech talent to the business group, chaired by Theodore Huang (黃茂雄). Huang is also chairman of TECO Group (東元集團).

Lee said that the government is planning to set up a review committee composed of world-class experts to advise venture capitalists on emerging technologies in the biotech industry.

The committee will seek cooperation with its counterparts in the US and Europe, he said, adding that both of the government's plans should be facilitated by this summer's end.

Lee, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, also urged the government to focus on the development of life science by introducing world-class scientists from foreign countries to help with start-ups.

Lee's speech was applauded by Tai Chein (戴謙), director-general of the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park (台南科學園區), who said the creation of a central incubator is key to developing a knowledge-based economy.

Tai said that the establishment of either a central incubator or four regional incubators -- in the northern, central, southern and eastern Taiwan -- would help coordinate all such facilities, whose resources and R&D efforts should be managed in such a way as to avoid overlapping.

Currently there are over 100 small-scale incubators set up under various universities and research institutions, including a NT$400 million center in the Tainan science park that began operations last month, Tai said.

"The incubator will also help revive and add value to the nation's traditional industries," Tai said.

Tai agreed with Lee's idea of setting up a technology review committee, allowing international and local marketers to jointly study the feasibility of high-tech projects so as to attract investment from venture capitalists.

"Venture capitalists make investments based on whether new technologies can be used on production lines to generate turnover for businesses," Tai said.

Speaking at the luncheon yesterday, Kao Chin-yen (高清愿), chief executive officer of President Group (統一集團), suggested the government nurture the nation's talent pool in accordance with market demand.

Kao complained of a huge gap between the human resource market's supply and actual company requirements in Taiwan.

Despite an unemployment rate of 5.4 percent as of last December, many enterprises, especially high-tech firms, are experiencing difficulties finding qualified employees, Kao said.