Science park focuses on green energy and biomedical tech development

www.etaiwannews.com
2009-12-20

The Hsinchu Science Park, known as Taiwan's "silicon valley," has targeted the green energy and biomedical sectors as key industries that will propel the park's development over the next 10 years and complement its strength in semiconductors and flat panels. In an interview with the Central News Agency, Park Director-General Yen Tzong-ming expressed confidence in Taiwan's ability to maintain its edge in the global semiconductor and flat panel markets, which he said "will continue to be the park's two major industrial pillars."

Yen attributed that success to the park's ability over its 29-year history to build a complete industrial cluster and cultivate specialised technologies in the semiconductor sector, and now it hopes to do the same in the green energy field as concerns over climate change mount. In the solar energy sector, for example, upstream producers of solar cell wafer materials and midstream manufacturers of solar cells have already moved into the park, Yen said.

As to light-emitting diode (LED) technologies, seen as having huge potential in saving energy used in lighting, production lines in the park have been upgraded from simply making LED chips to the production of ultra bright LED epitaxial wafers. Efforts are now being made to develop technologies related to long wavelength communication and advanced laser diodes, Yen noted. He revealed that the park administration plans to position its Tongluo park as an environmental science zone for the planned green energy cluster.

Turning to the biomedical industry, Yen said the administration is planning to develop the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park, located in Jhubei in northern Hsinchu County, into a cradle of knowledge innovation and cultivation featuring an international-standard medical center and biotech businesses. It will host factories, a medical center, a center for the development and testing of medical equipment and devices, and an industrial innovation center. Yen said the facilities should be completed by 2015.