Taiwan has been a familiar label on a wide range of goods in all corners of the world for many decades. The world’s tallest building was once ‘made in Taiwan’: Taipei 101 is also soon to be an accredited green building.
Now the government in Taipei is investing in raising its MICE ‘make’.
Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) is the body charged with pushing the meetings agenda, after the Government named the industry on its exclusive list of key sectors for support as the island state strives to diversify its economy.
The second annual edition of Meet Taiwan Week, held in October, provided a major focus for the renewed campaign. It embraced the 2010 Meet Taiwan Awards, the International Symposium on Intelligent Conventions and Exhibitions, the 2010 Taiwan Exhibition and Convention Industry Show (EXCO Taiwan 2010) and the 2010 Asian MICE Forum (AMF 2010).
Vice-Minister at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Francis Liang, said last June’s signing of the Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which resulted in reduced tariffs on a range of goods as well as direct flights between Taiwan and mainland China, was important for the island in realising its goal of becoming a major MICE destination. “With a good overall economic environment and trade relations, the Taiwan MICE industry will have a bright future,” the Liang said.
EXCO grows 39%
This year’s EXCO, held at the World Trade Centre, drew 4,587 visitors, including 195 international buyers. Organisers said it represented year-on-year growth of 39 per cent. Over 100 companies took part, including firms from China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan.
Meanwhile 712 industry professionals attended the MICE Forum at the nearby Taipei International Convention Centre (TICC). They heard expert presentations from UBM’s Senior Vice-President Christopher Eve; the Asian Federation of Exhibition and Convention Associations (AFECA) President Eduard Liu; UFI’s Regional Manager, Asia/Pacific, Mark Cochrane, and from Director of the Thailand Convention Bureau, Suprabha Moleeratanond.
Delegations from Shanghai’s World Expo and the organiser of the Taipei International Flora Expo, which opened in November and runs through to April 2011, shared insights into their business strategies at the Forum, which took as its main theme: ‘destination ‘marketing through mega events.
The south-east Asian state is clearly keen to show it is much more than a manufacturing hub. Indeed, Taiwan’s manufacturing exports have been hit hard in the past couple of years against the backdrop of global recession, so there is urgency to harness the state’s manufacturing powerhouse sectors to support more conferences and exhibitions.
Chinese mainland meeting planners and exhibitors are now targeted with ECFA meaning business travel across the strait is easier. China accounts for half of Taiwan’s exports, up from 35 per cent a year ago.
Taiwan is also on the up in the latest ICCA country rankings, rising three spots to No.32 in the latest list, while the capital Taipei ranks seventh among Asia’s cities for the number of association meetings held.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs’ most recent full-year statistics (2008) value the country’s MICE market output at NT$25.74bn (US$830m). It is a sector generating 10,000 jobs.
Organiser of EXCO is the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA). Its Exhibition Department Executive Director, Jeremy Horng, told CMW that TAITRA’s top six conventions and exhibitions were growing despite the recession, partly because, “Taiwan is able to provide a complete products supply chain. Our USP is 40 years’ experience combined with being able to answer the big question from exhibitors and delegates regarding ROI.”
Horng said part of TAITRA’s organising success (30 major events a year) was down to introducing one-on-one procurement meetings in 2004. “We offer more than 3,000 such meetings for our delegates at Computex Taipei, for instance.”
TAITRA is also keen to export its organising development strategy, including developing big events in India, said Horng. He also wants to see more event space built in Taiwan. Currently TAITRA has 100,000sqm under its management and although the Nangang Exhibition Hall now offers more space, the big shows and conventions swamp pretty much all the space available.
The World Trade Centre and the TICC are the capital’s main convention venues, while the proposed Phase II of the Nangang centre, which seems to have stalled, could offer more space, with a hotel in the plans that TAITRA hopes can be realised by 2014.
Horng picked up the MICE Advancement Award for TAITRA’s Kaohsiung food show. The event resulted in US$3.42m of procurement deals and follow up opportunities worth a further US$22.7m.
TAITRA also reported US$1.2m worth of transactions initialled at EXCO.
The Taipei hotel stock is first class, with the new Palais de Chine offering boutique style luxury and artworks in its ‘living museum’.
The Hotel Royal and the Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel both have extensive meeting and banqueting facilities; while the Grand Formosa Regent also offers top grade facilities.
A high-speed bullet train links Taipei to the second city Kaohsiung in 96 minutes. The port city offers its own selection of conference hotels and budget savings, as well as options for delegates keen to explore the south. Kaohsiung docks provide venue spaces for events in dock developments, such as the Pier-2 arts centre.
Other pre- and post-conference attractions in Taiwan include Buddhist monasteries, the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, hot springs relaxation in the mountains and numerous fine dining delights.
Flora Expo
Taiwan’s chance to bloom for the big event is currently in evidence in the capital. The city authorities invested heavily for the right to host the Taipei International Flora Exposition which opened 6 November.
The Flora Expo cost the local government more than US$150m to stage and has been three years in preparation.
The show runs until April 2011 and is spread over 91.8 hectares. The pavilions are centred on a former football stadium.
City Mayor Hau Lung-Bin is hoping for a political dividend on the big investment. “It will be the first such internationally recognised exposition to take place in our city,” he said. “We have upgraded our infrastructure and improved our services, transforming Taipei into a city of gardens. We fully expect this event to drive economic development and enhance our image.”
The EcoArk pavilion’s walls are made up of thousands of recycled plastic bottles. It also has solar panels for energy and open water circulation instead of air conditioning.
Taipei will pass the Flora Expo baton on to Xian in China, which will host a continuation of the event from April 2011.
What’s ahead?
Taiwan currently lacks a national convention bureau, although the functions are fulfilled by various Government organisations.
TAITRA’s Brian Lee is optimistic of more Government funds for developing Taiwan’s MICE proposition, “to enable us to compete with Seoul, China and Thailand, a country of tourism which has an advantage.”
Lee says Taiwan’s draw cards for meeting planners are the country’s strong IT and manufacturing sectors. Taiwan runs the second largest computer show (Computex) in the world after CEBIT in Hanover, and the number one bicycle show in Asia.
Taiwan is clearly carving out its own profile and conference cycle path and pedalling fast to diversify its economy and build a strong meetings future.
