TAITRA targets US$30 million sales from Inaugural Taiwan Expo

KUALA LUMPUR: The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) is eyeing potential sales of US$30 million (US$1=RM4.24) to be clinched at its inaugural Taiwan Expo 2017 in Malaysia from Nov 9-11, 2017.

Deputy executive director Philip Huang said sales would be mainly generated from green energy products such as solar power systems, smart medical equipment and Internet-of-Things related products.

“There will be more than 5,000 high-technology and high-quality products from Taiwan which will be showcased. There will also be a series of trade meetings, industry forums and cultural performances,” he told reporters after officiating the soft launch yesterday.

The exhibition themed, “BEST for My Life! Beauty, E-commerce, Smart, Talent”, is on the last leg of its South-East Asian tour that kicked-off in Indonesia in May, Vietnam in June and the Philippines in September.

The event has five main pillars, namely beauty and halal; e-commerce and business; smart and technology; talent and meetings, incentives, conferences and events; and, culture and taste.

Huang said the event, expected to attract more than 36,000 visitors, would feature some 164 exhibitors occupying about 240 booths.

“In view of Malaysia’s position as a global leader in halal certification, a large selection of halal beauty products and specialty food from Taiwan will be highlighted at the expo.

“Some new beauty products will also be launched at the event,” he added.

Huang said many exhibitors also hoped to have a better understanding of how to obtain halal certification for their products and how to market their products in Malaysia.

National president of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Association of Malaysia Datuk Michael Kang Hua Keong urged local companies to collaborate with Taiwanese enterprises to further explore and expand the halal industry.

“Malaysia’s halal certificate is globally recognised and working together with Taiwanese companies with advanced technologies could make Malaysia a halal base for SMEs to sell their products to the regional market, or even to the Muslim market worldwide,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Representative in Malaysia, James Chang Chi-Ping was confident the event would further boost trade between Malaysia and Taiwan.

“The latest statistics show bilateral trade between Malaysia and Taiwan increased 24.3 per cent ,year-on-year (y-o-y), to US$11.2 billion from January to August this year.” — Bernama