President William Lai (賴清德) at a tech expo about healthy aging on Friday praised Taiwan’s strengths in healthcare and technology for being able to provide a new economic opportunity.
Lai said Taiwan can make good use of its competitiveness in the technology and healthcare services sectors to “create a new industrial path” and serve as an experimental market for international innovative technology.
“Taiwan’s life expectancy is about 80 or so years old, but records show that the average Taiwanese spend about one-tenth of their lives, or eight years, requiring care for health issues,” he said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
A former physician himself, Lai said one of his presidential campaign promises was a “healthy Taiwan,” aimed at promoting good health for the public and making healthcare technology one of the country’s strengths.
Companies and research institutes participating in the expo are showcasing their new services and products utilizing digital technologies.
The Industrial Technology Research Institute, for example, had a care solution which uses image recognition technology to distinguish changes in an older person’s movements and cognitive behavior.
There were also information and communication technology (ICT) companies with artificial intelligence (AI)-related exhibits, such as Acer using AI to evaluate a person’s risk of osteoporosis and Compal detecting possible depression and dementia with the technology.
Taiwan would become a super-aged society by next year, meaning that more than 4.68 million, or 20 percent of its population, would be aged 65 or older, Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry adviser Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said.
An estimated 35 percent of the labor force (under the age of 65) would have to quit their jobs to take care of their aged family members, he said.
It is therefore urgent for Taiwan to develop a health industry founded on technology to meet the challenge and serve the “silver economy,” Shen said, referring to markets catering to the needs of older people.
Such an industry could also support the ministry’s policy to attract foreign tourists, including those coming for medical tourism, especially from neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea and other Southeast Asian nations, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said.
Taiwan can leverage its advantages in AI and ICT to build a health industry ecosystem encompassing dietary management, sports management, prognosis and rehabilitation, Kuo said.
The expo is taking place until today at the Taipei World Trade Center’s Exhibition Hall 1.
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