President William Lai (賴清德) at a tech expo about healthy aging on Friday praised Taiwan’s strengths in healthcare and technology for being able to provide a new economic opportunity.
Lai said Taiwan can make good use of its competitiveness in the technology and healthcare services sectors to “create a new industrial path” and serve as an experimental market for international innovative technology.
“Taiwan’s life expectancy is about 80 or so years old, but records show that the average Taiwanese spend about one-tenth of their lives, or eight years, requiring care for health issues,” he said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
A former physician himself, Lai said one of his presidential campaign promises was a “healthy Taiwan,” aimed at promoting good health for the public and making healthcare technology one of the country’s strengths.
Companies and research institutes participating in the expo are showcasing their new services and products utilizing digital technologies.
The Industrial Technology Research Institute, for example, had a care solution which uses image recognition technology to distinguish changes in an older person’s movements and cognitive behavior.
There were also information and communication technology (ICT) companies with artificial intelligence (AI)-related exhibits, such as Acer using AI to evaluate a person’s risk of osteoporosis and Compal detecting possible depression and dementia with the technology.
Taiwan would become a super-aged society by next year, meaning that more than 4.68 million, or 20 percent of its population, would be aged 65 or older, Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry adviser Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said.
An estimated 35 percent of the labor force (under the age of 65) would have to quit their jobs to take care of their aged family members, he said.
It is therefore urgent for Taiwan to develop a health industry founded on technology to meet the challenge and serve the “silver economy,” Shen said, referring to markets catering to the needs of older people.
Such an industry could also support the ministry’s policy to attract foreign tourists, including those coming for medical tourism, especially from neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea and other Southeast Asian nations, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said.
Taiwan can leverage its advantages in AI and ICT to build a health industry ecosystem encompassing dietary management, sports management, prognosis and rehabilitation, Kuo said.
The expo is taking place until today at the Taipei World Trade Center’s Exhibition Hall 1.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by