2023 Taiwan Healthcare Expo: Showcasing Innovative Advances in Biomedical Technology

The “2023 Taiwan Healthcare Expo (2023 台灣醫療科技展)”, the largest medical technologies event in the Asia-Pacific region, was grandly held from November 30 to December 3 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. Now in its 7th year, the exhibition has consistently grown in scale each year, attracting over 650 domestic and international institutions this year, with a record-breaking 2,300 booths.

The event also successfully drew more than 2,000 international buyers and hundreds of overseas hospital directors for business negotiations and hosted over 500 matchmaking sessions through an online global medical procurement network, connecting business partners from Poland, the Czech Republic, Southeast Asia, the Asia-Pacific region, and for the first time, a delegation of medical channel merchants from the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern countries.

The event was attended by important figures from industry, government, academia, and research, with the highlight being the honored presence of President Tsai Ing-wen, who has participated in the event for seven consecutive years.

Presidential Address: Emphasizing Taiwan’s Biomedical Innovation

President Tsai mentioned that Taiwan has a strong ICT industry, a comprehensive healthcare system, and extensive clinical technology. That’s why, since 2016, the government has been encouraging biomedical innovation and promoting the precision healthcare industry, as the goal is to make Taiwan a key hub for international biomedical research and innovation. In terms of legislation, the ‘Act for the Development of Biotech and Pharmaceutical Industry‘ came into effect last year, covering areas such as regenerative medicine, precision medicine, and digital healthcare.

Additionally, the government is increasing incentives for contract manufacturers in the biotechnology sector, while strengthening Taiwan’s capabilities in this sector and expanding its scope. Taiwan has established the National Biotechnology Research Park and the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park to support innovation in basic biotechnology and medical technology, driving the advancement of Taiwan’s biomedical industry and creating a new industry worth NT$1 trillion.”

Showcasing Medical Quality and Innovation

At the exhibition’s annual two major theme pavilions, the Taiwan Healthcare Expo showcased Taiwan’s excellence in medical quality and innovative technology. The chairman of the Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry (IBMI), Chi-Huey Wong, emphasized in his speech that the success of the exhibition is based on Taiwan’s solid foundation in “medical quality” and “innovative technology.”

This includes promoting the “Symbol of national Quality” selection mechanism, selecting medical teams that change global treatment guidelines and achieve international standards each year, thereby enhancing medical quality; and the “National Innovation Award”, which has selected nearly 3,000 innovative projects over the past 20 years, stimulating the innovative vitality of Taiwan’s biomedical field and promoting the vigorous development of medical innovation.

This year’s exhibition specially set up the “SNQ Top Medical Theme Pavilion” and the “INNOZONE Innovative Medical Technology Special Exhibition” on the 4th floor, showcasing Taiwan’s medical excellence and innovative technologies with investment potential to the world, and continuing to promote cross-disciplinary cooperation centered on “medical quality” and “biomedical innovation”, committed to making Taiwan a global center for medical innovation.

Focusing on Elderly Care Industry

Regarding the layout for the elderly care industry, the IBMI plans to hold the “Geroscience Technology Innovation Summit” in 2024. Facing the profound impact of global aging and demographic changes on the healthcare industry, countries are actively exploring new care models.

Chi-Huey Wong pointed out that to integrate the innovative energy of the health industry, promote emerging technologies, products, and service models adapted to the needs of the elderly, and improve the health level of the elderly population, the IBMI has planned to hold the “Taiwan Healthcare Expo” from December 5 to 8, 2024, and launch the first “Taiwan Elderly Technology Exhibition” on August 2 of the same year.

This will bring together benchmark companies from various fields such as food, clothing, housing, transportation, education, entertainment, and finance, promoting the development and cooperation of cross-disciplinary elderly technology products and creating a comprehensive elderly health industry chain.

AI in Medicine: Taiwan’s Global Role

At the Taiwan Healthcare Expo, domestic and international technology giants and top hospitals gathered to discuss key applications of AI in medicine. Taiwan has a leading capability in AI chip design and system integration, with over 90% of global AI servers manufactured in Taiwan, and semiconductor supply playing a crucial role in driving massive computing power.

The vice chairman of the IBMI, Barry Lam, pointed out at the opening ceremony, “These technological advantages were originally cultivated in different fields, but now through the IBMI and the Taiwan Healthcare Expo, a cross-disciplinary cooperation platform has been successfully created, linking these technological advantages together, with medical and health as the core application area. Looking forward, Taiwan is expected to become a strong supporter of global AI smart healthcare.”

This year’s exhibition focused on AI medical applications, displaying advanced technologies including AI-generated medical records, early warning of critical illnesses or assistance in disease diagnosis, which not only improve hospital management and service efficiency but also provide early warnings for risks during hospitalization, surgery, or in the intensive care unit, allowing the clinical frontline team to focus more on patient-centered care, demonstrating the “people-oriented” spirit of medicine.

The display of these innovative technologies attracted the attention of many domestic and international hospitals and technology strategic partners, laying a solid foundation for the Taiwan Healthcare Expo to continue to be an important platform for promoting the global smart healthcare industry.

Author

Oscar Wu