"Find the Pan Wen-Yuan of the Biotechnology Industry!" Wang Jin-pyng Urges Government to Take Active Planning: Create Another Guardian Mountain for the Nation
Faced with current international political and economic turmoil, Taiwan's once-proud "guardian mountain," the semiconductor industry, is enduring various external erosions and internal pressures. To diagnose the future of Taiwan's next trillion-dollar industry, the Taipei Forum Foundation held a forum today (24th), inviting former Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, former ITRI President Shih Chin-tai, and others to give speeches and engage in discussions. The aim is to brainstorm and find a new direction for the future of Taiwan's biotechnology industry. Wang Jin-pyng urged the government to step in at this crucial moment, integrate the resources of industry, government, and academia, and find the "Pan Wen-Yuan" of the biotechnology industry to outline a policy blueprint, making the biotechnology industry Taiwan's "second guardian mountain," allowing Taiwan to continue its rise in global competition.
In his speech, Wang Jin-pyng pointed out that Taiwan, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, has undergone multiple orogenic movements geographically, giving rise to the current ecologically diverse island of Taiwan. Taiwan has also experienced orogenic movements in its industrial development; the first was the rise of the semiconductor industry, which redefined Taiwan's strategic position globally. During the development of the semiconductor industry, Taiwan, with its excellent talent cultivation system, coupled with the government's precise vision in attracting outstanding talent and the synergy of government, industry, and academia, laid the foundation for the development of the semiconductor industry, becoming an indispensable player in the global supply chain.
Wang Jin-pyng: A Sacred Mountain Needs One or Two "Industry Leaders" Looking at the development of the semiconductor industry in Taiwan, Wang Jin-pyng said that orogenic movements require "a government with strategic vision and comprehensive policy planning," "a solid foundation for talent cultivation," "successful transformation of technology and academic research," and the cultivation of one or two "industry leaders" to form a self-operating industrial ecosystem. Only in this way can an indestructible "sacred mountain" be built.
Reflecting on the development of the semiconductor industry, Wang Jin-pyng said that in the 1970s, Taiwan was mired in various crises, including the cessation of US aid. Then-President Chiang Ching-kuo decided to shift the national strategy towards the technology industry. Against this backdrop, Dr. Wen-Yuan Pan, a Chinese-American scientist, was invited back to Taiwan and proposed the "Taiwan Electronic Integrated Circuit Technology Project." Together with then-Minister of Economic Affairs Sun Yun-hsuan and others, they outlined the blueprint for Taiwan's semiconductor industry, creating the semiconductor powerhouse we see today.
In the 1970s, while the semiconductor industry was booming, Taiwan's biotechnology industry was also quietly developing. However, limited by the immature policies and industrial environment at the time, this boom ultimately failed to continue. Nevertheless, the potential of the biotechnology industry remains enormous. As the world enters an aging society and health awareness continues to rise, medical and health-related needs not only persist but also continue to expand.
To vigorously promote the development of the biotechnology industry, the "Biotechnology Development Council" was established in 2002, playing a crucial role as a bridge between the government and industry. Wang Jin-pyng recalled that in 2007, with the support of former Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huei and former President Tsai Ing-wen, he personally proposed the "Biotechnology and New Drug Industry Development Act" in his capacity as Speaker of the Legislative Yuan. This act attracted investment and talent, marking a significant milestone in the development of Taiwan's biotechnology industry.
Wang Jin-pyng emphasized that while Taiwan's biotechnology industry has established a solid foundation in terms of regulations, policies, and corporate development in recent years, achieving a globally unshakeable position like the semiconductor industry still requires the joint efforts of the government, industry, and academia. To build the biotechnology industry into a pillar of national strength, Wang Jin-pyng pointed out that the biotechnology industry is extremely broad. If there is a clear national strategy and collaborative mechanism, and if the government, businesses, and academia move in the same direction through legislation and other means, Taiwan's biotechnology industry can move from "fragmented development" to "systematic advancement."
Wang Jin-pyng: Taiwan's Must-Win Battleground in Biotechnology for the Next 40 Years
Wang Jin-pyng believes that Taiwan possesses a deep technological foundation. The future of the biotechnology industry will no longer be limited to traditional drug research and development or medical manufacturing, but will be a cross-disciplinary era of "AI semiconductors combined with biotechnology." Chip manufacturing, precision processes, data analysis, and algorithm capabilities can all be applied to gene sequencing, drug simulation, medical image analysis, and precision medicine. This cross-domain integration will spark a new biotechnology revolution, and Taiwan has a real opportunity to replicate its success in the semiconductor industry, becoming a major driver of global biotechnology.
Wang Jin-pyng pointed out that the biotechnology industry is a high-risk, high-investment, and long-cycle industry. Government funds should have a leading investment mission to support companies with potential, or to relax policies through legislation to attract more domestic and foreign capital investment. Only then can the industry build a healthy ecosystem and promote innovation and long-term growth. Besides the government's strategic direction, continuous policy optimization, and the gradual formation of an industrial ecosystem, Wang Jin-pyng believes that the key to the biotechnology industry's successful operation is "professional talent." Just as the semiconductor industry had Pan Wen-yuan to plan its development blueprint, if the biotechnology industry is to become Taiwan's next giant, talent and outstanding "leaders"—that is, finding the biotechnology industry's "Pan Wen-yuan"—are paramount.
Wang Jin-pyng said that if semiconductors were Taiwan's miracle over the past 40 years, then biotechnology will be Taiwan's strategic battleground for the next 40 years. To win this battle of the century, the government must take responsibility and lead the way, integrating industry and academia, while businesses must unite, contribute ideas, and work together to find the leaders of the contemporary biotechnology industry, the "Pan Wen-yuan" of the biotechnology industry, and build a team as solid as the semiconductor industry was back then, slowly building up a second mountain.