TAIWAN CEPD APPROVES HERBAL BIOTECH PARK

Taiwan's Council of Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) has approved proposals to open a herbal biotech park in Chiayi County. The US$109mn build-operate-transfer (BOT) project is due for completion in 2007 and will initially receive a US$50mn cash injection, 95% of which will come from the central government. The remaining 5% of funds will come from Chiayi County government, which has forecast that the project will generate more than US$1.6bn in revenues over 10 years once complete.

The central and local governments may reduce their stakes in the project depending on the level of private investment, with a number of companies already expressing an interest in the park, including domestic chemicals company Formosa Plastics Group.

The CEPD has forecast that herbal remedies will achieve a global production value in excess of US$1bn by 2006. Taiwan has planned four other agricultural biotech parks, including an orchid and a flower biotech park, in order to expand the domestic biotech sector as it attempts to compete with neighbouring Singapore in attracting foreign investment.

The Taiwanese pharmaceutical market is forecast to be second only to China in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of short-term growth. Driving this expansion is the government's desire to make the country a regional base for research and development (R&D) operations; spending is set to reach US$4.7bn at consumer prices by 2007.