Universal Vision Biotechnology Co (大學光學科技), Taiwan’s first biotech firm to list its shares on the GRETAI Securities Market, yesterday signed a pact with a medical university in Fujian Province, paving the way for expansion into China.
“This partnership will help us train the necessary human resources, letting us get ready to move into the mainland market,” chairman Ou Shu-fong (歐淑芳) said on the sidelines of the signing ceremony.
The company yesterday signed a cooperation agreement with Fujian Medical University, beginning an exchange program for medical students and specialists to undergo training in both countries.
Universal Vision has had personnel exchanges with medical schools in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou for the past 10 years, and company officials hope cooperation with Fujian Medical University will broaden the company’s human resources base, enabling it to move into China “in the near term,” Ou said.
She said the company’s expansion plan would be announced by year’s end without revealing the exact timeline.
Universal Vision specializes in ophthalmology, with establishments such as Universal Eye Centers (大學眼科), Universal Beauty Clinics (大學醫學美容) and optometric centers E-feye (大學眼鏡) across the nation.
The company offers a wide range of services from ophthalmology research in stem cells, optical material developments and technology, to eye operation, sales of eye glasses and healthcare products.
Ou said a number of ophthalmology specialists from Europe, the US and Japan have attempted to create footholds in China, but to no avail because of cultural and linguistic barriers.
“Because eye clinics in China are moving toward high-end services, it gives us an opportunity to expand into the market,” she said.
The company will apply its successful business model and bring experts and a wide array of services to Fujian Province, which is its first destination for expansion.
The company is joining forces with Chinese medical centers to nurture personnel in a bid to make sure it has ample specialists, Ou said.
The developing medical industry in China has attracted Taiwanese companies to set up medical facilities over the years. They include Chang Gung Medical Foundation (長庚醫療), which has a presence in Xiamen, BenQ Group (明基集團) in Nanjing and Want Want China Holdings Ltd (旺旺中國控股) in Hunan.
BenQ Group poured 1.1 billion yuan (US$161 million) into the BenQ Hospital in Nanjing in May last year. The group is currently building another hospital in Suzhou.
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