Taiwan signs nanotechnology collaboration with Australia

Taipei, March 3 (CNA) The Taiwan Nanotechnology Industry development Association (TANIDA) recently established the country's first international collaboration on nanotechnology with Australia's Nano Business Forum (ANBF), as part of a national program to advance the nation's nanotechnology industries.
TANIDA Chairman Wu Maw-kuen signed the "Taiwanese and Australian Nanotechnology Collaboration Initiative" with ANBF CEO Tina Rankovic Feb. 26 at the International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICONN) in Melbourne.
"Taiwan's world-famous IC industry and its government-level National Science and Technology Program for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology are the key factors making the cooperation possible, " Song Tsing- Tang, the national program's CEO and secretary-general of TANIDA, who had just returned from Melbourne, said Monday.
The two countries will seek economic growth through the commercial application of nanotechnology, while working together on a range of activities, projects and information exchanges that will facilitate the uptake of nanotechnology businesses in both nations, according to the initiative's memorandum of understanding.
Song refused to divulge further details of the collaboration, citing commercial confidentiality.
Taiwan has amassed an estimated more-than NT$300 billion (US$9.68 billion) in nanotechnology production value since the national program started in 2003.
Song also said the collaboration will be mutually beneficial, noting that Australia's strong nanotechnology sector can help compensate Taiwan's weakness in areas such as nanobiotechnology.
Such national-level collaboration that boosts technology between neighboring countries is becoming increasingly common, with the ANBF signing a similar initiative with Japan's Nanotechnology Business Creation Initiative in 2007, showing Australia's determination to explore the Asia-Pacific market through nanotechnology alliances.
The ANBF was formed in 2006 as a national body representing and promoting Australian industries and companies involved in nanotechnology, with the aim of facilitating links between key stakeholders including government, funding, regulatory and research entities.
TANIDA, a brainchild of the national program, was launched in 2004 to coordinate academia-industry collaboration in developing value-added nanotechnology products.
The relationship between the two government- sponsored organizations was forged during Taiwan Nano 2007, one of the premier trade exhibitions in nanotechnology in Asia. (By Yeh Fang-hsun)