The output value of Taiwan-made products using nanotechnology is forecast to grow 6.7 percent this year, helped by government efforts to industrialize the cutting-edge technology, an official said yesterday.
The sector’s output value is set to increase to NT$10 billion (US$341 million) from NT$9.37 billion last year, Industrial Development Bureau Deputy Director-General Leu Jang-hwa (呂正華) said at the opening ceremony of the Taiwan Nano Exhibition.
Domestic companies have also invested more than NT$30 billion in nanotechnology to date since the government began promoting the sector in 2003, he said.
Nanotechnology aims to resolve bottlenecks in the miniaturization of electric components. It works with materials, devices and other structures in the nanometer scale, or one-billionth of a meter.
Also at the tech fair’s opening ceremony, Taiwan signed a memorandum of understanding with a European research consortium to enhance transnational interactions on nanotechnology research.
The deal was signed by representatives from Taiwan’s National Program on Nano Technology (NPNT) and the M-era.Net network, a European program that researches materials.
NPNT program director Wu Chung-yu (吳重雨) said the memorandum allows Taiwanese academic institutes and companies to participate in nanotechnology research projects with their European counterparts, starting from this month.
M-era.Net is an EU-funded network established to support European research programs in materials science and engineering.
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