NCTU President Wu Chung-yu, who first broached the idea of the association, said the biomedical industry is a relatively new sector in Taiwan and needs more efforts to foster it as the next "trillion dollar industry" -- a term used to describe those industries that are capable of achieving annual revenues of NT$1 trillion or above.

Describing the establishment of the association as "a first step and a good start, " Wu expressed hope that the organization can become an interdisciplinary platform for biomedicine, engineering, electronics, technology-related legislation and venture capital for the industry.

He also said the association will help strengthen the local biomedical industry through international cooperation and collaborative research projects on technology and application.

Liu Wen-tai, honorary director of NCTU's Intelligent Prosthesis Research Center, said the biomedical industry can be separated into three sub-sectors--biomedical pharmaceuticals,biomedical components and diagnostic instruments.