To showcase the nation's capabilities in developing the biotech sector, nearly 300 local and foreign companies are participating in the 16th Taipei International Show on Medical Equipment, Pharmaceuticals & Bio-technology, or Mediphar Taipei, which runs until Sunday.
Held at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall I, the four-day expo started yesterday. It features over 600 booths and will be opened to the public, with free entry, on the weekend.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"As one key industry to gain the government's active support, the sector generated NT$130 billion (US$3.9 billion) in output value last year," said Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), director-general of the Department of Health, at an opening ceremony yesterday morning.
The nation's medical equipment exports have seen double-digit growth annually since 2000, when most sectors were affected by the economic downturn, Chen added.
He expressed optimism that by combining the manufacturing industry's cutting-edge technology and the electronics sector's R&D strength, Taiwan will make strides in biotech development.
In addition to showcasing the exhibitors' latest medical equipment, health care and rehabilitation products, the exposition also features 50 medical seminars, according to co-organizer the Formosan Medical Association (台灣醫學會).
As the largest expo of its kind in Asia, the show is expected to draw over 35,000 visitors, including physicians from around the nation, according to the association.
Dailycare Biomedical Inc (
Its handheld electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor allows users, especially cardiac patients, to record their ECG signals. The data stored in the built-in memory can be transferred to personal computers via a USB connection. The device hence enables doctors to keep track of patients' cardiac figures and can effectively reduce heart attack fatalities, according to Dailycare.
Other prize-winning products include an intubation scope by Medical Intubation Technology Corp (
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained