TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Though Taiwan has had some success in turning the island's great variety of flora and fauna into commercial products, experts were cited as saying it has a long way to go before it emerges as a biotechnology powerhouse. With limited government support for research and a poor record of cashing in on laboratory breakthroughs, it is still struggling to create a name for itself in an increasingly competitive field, they say.

Lee Jen-chyuan, vice minister of the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture, was quoted as saying, "Agriculture is a treasure that has yet to be properly explored. It's ... an area where we can be competitive in the world, unlike medical and pharmaceutical fields that are dominated by multinational companies."

The story says that in Asia, Taiwan's agricultural biotech research is competing with countries like Singapore, though the city-state is burdened with relatively small parcels of land for producing raw materials. Both China and India have also placed great emphasis on the technology, but most of their efforts have been applied to improving crop output.

Taiwanese officials hope that biotech may one day join information technology as a prime engine of the island's economy, but there are a number of hurdles that must be overcome.