Hon Hai Precision Industry chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) yesterday said he would establish Taiwan’s largest medical facility if elected president.
Gou told a news conference that he hopes to integrate Taiwan’s medical resources and set up new medical technology platforms.
The tycoon said he would donate 90 percent of his assets and invest most of them in healthcare development.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
While he is the wealthiest man in Taiwan, some of his family members have gotten cancer, making him realize that money cannot buy health and motivating him to improve medical care in Taiwan, he said.
Gou’s first wife, Serena Lin (林淑如), died from breast cancer in 2005 and his younger brother, Tony Gou (郭台成), died from leukemia in 2007.
People in the medical community have suggested that Taiwan establish a cancer center, Terry Gou said.
Taiwan has some of the best doctors and most advanced medical technology in the Chinese-speaking world, so the nation should become a regional hub for the prevention and treatment of cancer, he said.
Terry Gou, who on April 17 announced that he would participate in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) primary, said that if elected president, he would set up medical parks for cancer care in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung.
The cancer care facilities would allow doctors to “make a fortune” and could offer services that the National Health Insurance program does not cover, he added.
The facilities would also attract patients from other countries to Taiwan for treatment and prevent Taiwanese doctors from seeking opportunities overseas, he said.
Although Gou has been in the media spotlight since announcing his intention to run for president, former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), former New Taipei mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) are also participating in the KMT primary, while some KMT supporters have been calling for popular Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to also contend for the party’s nomination.
During a visit to the US earlier this month, Gou said he planned to resign as chairman of Hon Hai.
The markets are watching closely who will succeed him as chairman of the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronic products, even Apple — on whose board Gou is a member — the firm revealed in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Friday.
Asked about the news, Gou yesterday said he would not seek to be re-elected as chairman, even if he is not nominated to be the KMT’s presidential candidate.
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