Reports on the Hsin-Chu BioMedical Science Park
Taiwan aims to become Asian hub for biotechnology with science park
Taipei
(dpa) - Taiwan will soon build its first
biotechnology park in a bid to become an Asian hub in the sector, an
official at National Taiwan University (NTU) Hospital said on
Wednesday.
Construction
of the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park is expected to start in 2003,
with the park slated to be operational about three years later, Hsu
Su-ming, vice superintendent of the NTU Hospital said.
"We
think Taiwan has a niche for biotechnology," Hsu said.
"There are several ingredients for success in biotechnology,
including research excellence, a talent pool and specialised
infrastructure."
In
recent years, Taiwan has witnessed an exodus of local companies
moving manufacturing bases to mainland China in search of lower
costs and higher profit margins, forcing the island to expand into
more value-added technology sectors.
The
planned biotech park will cover an area of almost 39 hectares and
cost an estimated 800 million U.S. dollars to complete, including
property and construction costs.
Taiwan
has substantial venture capital available, he said, and the time is
ripe to create an environment that is suitable for collaboration and
networking in the field of biotechnology.
The
planned biotech park in Hsinchu, in the northern part of the island,
will focus on cancer research and include a hospital and medical
research centre, he said. It will combine resources from academia,
industry and government in a bid to stimulate new discoveries. NTU
will have a campus in the park and help develop the island's biotech
sector, he said.
NTU
will also convert its current biotech incubator - designed to
support start-up companies and facilitate technology transfer from
the research sector to the private sector - into a company at the
start of next year and move into the biotech park, he said.
"If
we convert (the incubator) into a private company, it'll be more
flexible," Hsu said. "The company will do the same things
(as before), but as a company rather than as part of the
university."
The
Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park will be located in a special zone
near a planned Hsinchu station, where a large high-speed rail
project linking the capital Taipei in the north with the southern
port city of Kaohsiung is being constructed.
NTU will team up with Japanese firm Nomura Research Institute to develop a business plan for the biotech park and is expected to send a proposal to the government by March next year. If the government accepts the business plan, it will set aside a budget for the project, which will then have to be approved by the legislature, before construction can start in 2003.
地址 : 100 台北市中正區中山南路七號 台大醫院 院長室
傳真 : 02-23217522 E-mail : smhsu@ha.mc.ntu.edu.tw