| LOS ANGELES - The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and the U.S.-based Nano Science and Technology Institute (NSTI) signed an agreement Monday in Anaheim, California, to work together to develop the nanotechnology industry. The cooperative ties are expected to help Taiwan industrial firms make progress in the development of nanotech, said Richard Tsai, director of the TAITRA Taiwan Trade Center in San Francisco.
Under the agreement, efforts will be made to push for nanotechnology exchanges and relevant trade cooperation via exhibitions, seminars and personnel exchanges in the industrial sector. Tsai indicated that nanotechnology has been listed as one part of Taiwan's strategy to develop the island into a "green silicon island." To achieve the goal, efforts are being taken to build Taiwan into a regional research and development center of applied nanotechnology within 10 years, he noted.
Therefore, Taiwan plans to inject NT$21.2 billion (US$679 million) into its national nanotechnology development project by 2008, with projects to include the construction of core facilities and the training of talent in nanotechnology, according to TAITRA. Meanwhile, the Taipei-based non-profit trade promotion group held a seminar on nanotechnology applications for industry in Taiwan at the venue of the 2005 NSTI Nano Tech fair in Anaheim the same day.
Chung Chao-an, project manager of the Hsinchu-based Industrial Technology Research Institute's Nanotechnology Research Center, and Chen Che-yang, leader of the Industrial Development Bureau's nanotechnology industrialization project, co-hosted the seminar and gave keynote speeches on Taiwan's nanotechnology development, as well as trade opportunities in the field.
Participants in the seminar were all invited to visit Taiwan's 2005 international nanotechnology fair slated for September in Taipei and to join in activities of the Taiwan Nano Week Sept. 21-25, according to the TAITRA. |
