Pharmaceuticals A Key Taiwan Industry

The government of Taiwan has designated pharmaceuticals as a key industry for development, and this includes preferential treatment in taxation, financing and technical consultations, according to a recent report in the Free China Journal.

Health care goods are soaring in demand in Taiwan, the report notes, with imports of medicines alone in 1993 amounting to $483 million, which is said to represent around one-third of the nation's total consumption of medicines in that year. Japan has replaced the USA as the main source.

Meantime, Taiwan's exports of medicines also increased, by 8%, to reach a value of $63 million.