[1999]

Towards a Knowledge Based Economy - Taiwan's Experience in the Development of Science and Technology Based Industries

Speaker : Dr Sun Chen

Date : January 21, 1999 (Thursday)

Time : 6 pm

Venue : Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library (HSSML) Auditoruim Faculty of Business Administration National University of Singapore

Chairman : Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof C C Hang

Synopsis of Lecture

East Asian countries have been in severe recession since the second half of 1997 candled by the so-called East Asian financial crisis. Taiwan seems the least affected economy with the exception of mainland China. While almost all other East Asian countries suffered a decline in GDP, Taiwan managed to maintain a 5% growth rate in 1998. Observers are interested in knowing the strength of the Taiwan economy mitigating the adverse effects of the financial crisis. Many would refer to, among other things, its successful transformation to a science and technology based industrial structure in the last decade. Dr Sun will discuss in his lecture the factors accountable for the transformation. Some prospects of future development will also be speculated. Following is an outline of the lecture:

• Transforming to a Science & Technology Based Economy
• Institutional Arrangements for a Successful Transformation
  • - ITRI
  • - The Science Based Industrial Park
  • - The Science & Technology Development Programs
• The Supply of the High-level Manpower and the Returning Elite
• Capital Availability and the Venture Capital
• Sources of Technical Progress and the Performance of ITRI
• Searching for New Industries
• Some Prospects

Biography of Dr Sun Chen

Dr Sun Chen is currently the Chairman of Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan, a 6000+ strong national research institute. He has made instrumental contribution in the building up of Science & Technology based Industry in Taiwan. Many of the world-class IC, IT and Communications companies based in Taiwan were spin-offs of ITRI. An economist by training, Dr Sun has a distinguished career in both the government and academia. He had served as the Minister of National Defense, and Minister of State in the ROC Executive Yuan. He had also served as the Vice Chairman of Economic Planning Council and Vice Chairman of Council for Economic Planning & Development, ROC Executive Yuan, and is widely regarded as one of the key architects of Science & Technology based Industry for Taiwan. Dr Sun had also taught at and served as the President of National Taiwan University. He has contributed greatly to the field of economics in Taiwan by being involved in the National Science Council, Board of Academic Reviewers at the Ministry of Education, and the Council of Academia Sinica. He has written a number of books and articles on the economic development and prospects of Taiwan.