Led by Vice President, Chih-Lung Lin, the MIRDC (Metal Industries Research & Development Centre) had integrated the Taiwan medical device manufacturers into an alliance named Taiwan Excellence National Image Pavilion to participate in the “20th International Health Care Exhibition” held in Bologna, Italy (EXPOSANITA 2016), from 18th to 20th of May. This was the first time MIRDC to collectively organize Taiwan manufacturers, including HIWIN Technologies Corp., Dyaco, Bestcare Medical Co., Ltd., Sunny Castors, PAHSCO (Pacific Hospital Supply Co., Ltd.) and Fudakang Industrial Co., Ltd., and to successfully be engaged in integrated marketing in demonstrating the R&D capabilities of the Taiwanese medical device industry at the second largest exhibition in Europe. Moreover, MIRDC had also facilitated commercial and technological exchanges between the Taiwanese medical device industry and international medical facilities such as the Maria Cecilia Hospital from the Italian GVM medical group, which allowed both parties to expand further commercial opportunities in this international exhibition.

As the current global economic slowdown continues, the growth rate for the medical device industry still approaches almost double-digit annually, and is regarded as the fastest growing industry globally. Considering factors such as an increasing domestic senior population and the fact that Taiwan has reached the stage of an aging society, the medical and health industries are expected to be the new trillion-dollar industries in Taiwan. Given that Western Europe accounts for 26.8% in the global medical device market, the second largest market only after the U.S., it arises as a blue ocean in the medical device market for the Taiwanese manufacturers. In Italy where this exhibition was held, the medical device market is approximately 4 to 5 times larger than that in Taiwan. Furthermore, the sales of medical devices in Italy ranked 4th in the EU, and is expected to reach €16.9 billion in 2020 with a compound annual growth rate of 4.3%, all of which sum up as vast potential opportunities that cannot be overlooked.

In recent years, MIRDC had been proactively integrating and organizing the Taiwan manufacturers to attend exhibitions, and had managed to acquire growth and performance that were acknowledged by the participants, which further encouraged other manufacturers to join the alliance for exhibition. Commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the MIRDC had been publicizing the technological capability of the Taiwanese medical device industry in Colon, Sao Paulo, Chicago and London, from 2009 to the present. In the future, the MIRDC will continue to advance the R&D and manufacturing process of metal materials, so as to assist the Taiwan traditional manufacturers in the transition to higher-end product manufacturing. The ultimate aim is to strengthen competitiveness of the Taiwanese manufacturers and get a hold of the global medical device market by establishing industry clusters and brand images, as well as expanding the international market share.