Bayer Group to Set Up Functional Film R&D Center in Taiwan

Written by Writer on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Bayer Group to Set Up Functional Film R&D Center in Taiwan

Taipei, Oct. 15, 2008 (CENS)–The Germany-based Bayer Group will invest US$5 million in Taiwan to set up a functional film R&D center in the next three years, according to Bayer Taiwan president Steffan Huber.

The proposed center will cooperate with the government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute to develop flexible display devices to meet the needs of domestic optoelectronic firms.

Bayer Taiwan said functional film is an innovation that the Bayer Group has been striving to develop over the past several years, with the Group mainly taking advantage of its self-developed material technologies to create various functional chemical coatings. For instances, functional films can be applied to electro-nano oil inks, three-dimensional image display materials, light-emitting electro-luminescent (EL) films, and heat-resistant materials. Huber noted the Bayer Group has used functional film technology to mass produce EL films in Germany.

The Bayer Group plans to commercialize functional films within three years, with such products to generate an estimated additional 140 million euro in annual sales by 2010, and as much as 500 million euro by 2015.

Recognizing Taiwan`s flexibility in product applications, Bayer will invest in the first-year some NT$45 million (US$1.39 million at US$1:NT$32.3) to set up the R&D center, with the sum to reach US$5 million in the third year.

Also the Bayer Group will set up a sports and recreational R&D center at the Changhua Coastal Industrial Zone in central Taiwan, reflecting the Group`s confidence in the island`s capacity in applied thermal urethane.

by Ben Shen