Over the long-term, NPUST has placed its focus on the development of animal immunization and animal health industry technologies, and the cultivation of professionals in the field. The university has worked in close cooperation with international animal vaccination and health industry research agencies, and has established strategic alliances with the Executive Yuan’s Pingtung Agriculture and Biotechnology Park (PABP), the Agricultural Technology Research Institute, and the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Office of Agricultural Biotechnology Analysis and Promotion with the aim of developing agriculture technology, raising the agriculture research capacity of Taiwan and cultvating professionals in the field.
 

On June 8th, 2017, during the “2017 Animal Vaccination and Animal Health Management Symposium” (動物疫苗與動物健康管理產業國際論壇) jointly hosted by the NPUST and PABP, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to strengthen cooperation and exchange.
 

NPUST President Chang-Hsien Tai stressed the fact that “abuses of antibiotics is an major concern for Taiwan food safety, so NPUST is using technology to compensate, hoping that, together with the government and private industries, we will be able to advance in animal vaccination research and make a contribution to food safety in Taiwan.” With funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Department of Academia-Industry Collaboration, the College of Veterinary Medicine and seven private enterprises have cooperated to establish the Taiwan Animal Vaccine/Adjuvant Service Alliance (台灣動物疫苗佐劑產業聯盟技術服務中心), and, in order to help support NPUST to provide services to farmers and promote the development agriculture industries, a strategic alliance and membership contract was signed.
 

The symposium invited Chun-Hung Lin, the vice-president of the Agricultural Technology Research Institute, Jian-Hsin Chu, the head of renowned animal vaccination company, Boehringer Ingelheim Taiwan, and Korea’s Green Cross Veterinary Products Co. Ltd to discuss animal health industry aspirations, new types of animal vaccination technology, international markets and the development of vaccinations for influenza viruses in mammals. Furthermore, invitations were extended to scholars from Norway and Thailand to jointly discuss aquaculture animal vaccination developments and current challenges in aquaculture production. They also shared on the newest trends in animal vaccination and animal health industries. Hopes are that Taiwan’s local industries will benefit from the interaction and information the symposium provided.
 

University representatives pointed out that there is a close and inseparable relationship between the health of animals and the health of people living in the same environment. Thus, the concept of “One World One Health” has been adopted to help promote international objectives. Over the past few years, key international players in animal health related industries have started working on various types of integrations, developing a systematic approach to the industry. Today, regardless if it is animal vaccinations for economically important animals or health management of pets, it is recognized that there is much room for growth to be made with respect to industry output values. Taiwan has considerable reputation for its agricultural biotechnology, especially with respect to livestock and poultry farming and animal disease management-related industries. NPUST’s long-term investment in animal immunization and animal health management has made a considerable contribution in this area, and, with respect to international industry and academic cooperation, the university has performed exceptionally well. Now through the alliance, it will be able to focus the capabilities of industry, government and academia, to accelerate the development of Taiwan’s animal health industry and turn it into an industry of “green gold”.