Tech-based health sector can give Taiwan's economy a boost: President

Taipei, Aug. 2 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said that Taiwan's strengths in both health care and technology offer it a new economic opportunity, at a healthy aging tech expo Friday in Taipei.

Lai said Taiwan can make good use of its competitive edges in the technology and health care services sector to "create a new industrial path," and serve as an experimental market for the world's innovative tech applications.

"Taiwan's life expectancy is around 80 or so years old, but the record also shows that average Taiwanese spend about one-tenth of their lives, or eight years, requiring care for health issues," he said.

A physician himself, Lai said one of his campaign promises was a "healthy Taiwan," aimed at promoting Taiwanese people's health but also to make health care technology one of the country's strengths.

Companies and research institutes participating in the expo are exhibiting their new services and products utilizing digital technologies.

The Industrial Technology Research Institute, for example, is exhibiting a care solution that uses image recognition technology to distinguish changes in an older person's movements and cognitive behavior.

There were also ICT companies such as Acer using artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate a person's risk of osteoporosis and Compal using AI to detect possible depression and dementia.

Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津), a former vice premier and current adviser to the Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry, said Taiwan will become a super-aged society by 2025, meaning that more than 4.68 million, or 20 percent of its population, will be 65 or over.

An estimated 35 percent of the labor force (under the age of 65) will have to quit their jobs to take care of their own aged family members, he said.

It is therefore urgent, he argued, for Taiwan to develop a health industry founded on technology to meet this challenge and serve the "silver economy," referring to markets catering to the needs of older people.

Minister of Economic Affairs Kuo Jyh-huei (郭智輝) said such an industry could also support the ministry's policy to attract foreign tourists, including in the medical tourism sector, especially from neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.

Taiwan can leverage its advantages in AI and information and communications technology (ICT) to build a health industry ecosystem encompassing dietary management, sports management, prognosis, and rehabilitation, Kuo said.

The expo is taking place from Friday to Sunday at Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1.