Science Parks in Taiwan

I've written about the top biotech hubs in North America, but you don't have to be an expert in the field to know there's a lot of biomedical research going on all over the world...just look at the news! Biotechnology hubs exist in every country, some more developed than others, but there is definitely a lot of action in the east these days, particularly in bioprocessing and outsourcing to CSOs.

The people and government of Taiwan are actively encouraging the growth of biotech in their country, in several existing, newly constructed, and as-yet planned, science parks. The oldest of these, established in 1980, is the Hsinchu Science Park, in the north-central part of the island. Historically, the park is mainly IT, but to the north and south, new biomedical areas are being developed around the National Taiwan University Medical Center to the north, and the National Health Research Institutes, to the south.

On the northern tip, the Biotechnology Plaza is part of the Nankang Software Park, which opened in 2003 east of Taipei. This park houses not only biotechnology companies, but a large number of software development companies, and government institutes including the National Sciences Council.

The southern tip of the island is home to the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP), opened in 1996 to complement the Hsinchu park. STSP was intended for agricultural biotechnology and is in close proximity to several agricultural research institutes, however, as of 2003, biotech companies made up only 24 of 116 companies in the park, the remainder being IT and electronics.

The Taichung Science Park, in the center of the island, is still under development. Although pharmaceutical manufacturing can be found throughout the island, these parks offer attractive enticements such as rent and utility breaks, tax incentives and specialized lending rates.