A group of Taiwanese tech startups in smart healthcare and medical health innovation businesses have entered the Thai market to capitalise on rising demand as the country ages rapidly, in line with the government's 10-year policy to make the country Asia's medical hub.
Smart healthcare and medical innovation are among the new S-curve industries promoted by the government as drivers of a new economy through the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project.
The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) is supporting these startups' investment in the EEC with the cooperation of the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) in Taiwan and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (Taitra).
Jason Hsu, director of the economic division for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand, said the value of healthcare devices and solutions imported from Taiwan last year was US$8.6 billion.
"Smart healthcare and medical health innovation is a new market segment expected to boost the growth rate of the healthcare industry here, which is 8-10% per year," Mr Hsu said.
He was speaking yesterday at the Thailand-Taiwan Smart Healthcare seminar and trade meeting, held by the BOFT in Bangkok.
Six Taiwanese tech startups joined the event: Hiwin Technologies Corp, Advantech, IEI Integration Corp, Mediland Enterprise Corporation, Imediplus and Faspro Systems.
Mr Hsu said the country's medical hub scheme could be beneficial to Taiwanese suppliers of medical equipment.
For example, Taiwan's semiconductor wafers and equipment are used by the world's largest genetic sequencing company, Illumin; and Taiwan's panels are used in both General Electric's and Siemens's electronic medical equipment.
Mr Hsu said more than 40 companies took part in business matching activities between Taiwanese firms and Thai hospitals and enterprises.
Shao-Hui Lin, deputy executive director of Taitra, said Thailand has great potential for smart healthcare business and medical innovation because of strong demand driven by the ageing society and the government's digital economy push.
Kriengkrai Thiennukul, vice-chairman of the FTI and chairman of the Thai-Taiwan Economic Cooperation Committee, said Thailand and Taiwan have close collaborations in business from time to time.
Trade value between the two countries was $4.6 billion for the first half of 2019, increasing 10% year-on-year despite the economic slowdown.
The FTI is supporting Taiwanese tech startups in smart healthcare business to invest in the EEC project and partner with local startups to develop innovation in the country through knowledge transfer, Mr Kriengkrai said.