Taiwan Procurement Industry Cluster Week Aiming to Materialize NT$5 B. of Biz Opportunities From Abroad

Taipei, Oct. 16, 2012 (CENS)--The Taiwan Procurement Industry Cluster Week, an inaugural, 5-day event initiated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) October 15-19 in different cities, is aimed to attain nearly NT$5 billion worth of procurement contracts built between local suppliers and foreign buyers in the five days.

Officials of Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) said that the event is part of MOEA's plan to solicit orders for Taiwan-made products from foreign buyers for this year, designed to continually take place in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to host over 1,500 face-to-face procurement meetings between local companies and buyers during the five-day period.

The event already began in Taipei yesterday by clustering a number of Taiwan's globally known ICT (information and communication technologies) and electrical companies, including Walsin Lihwa Corp., Shihlin Electric & Engineering Corp. and D-Link Corp., to meet invited foreign buyers.

TAITRA staff indicated that a total of 670 Taiwanese enterprises and 225 foreign buyers from Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, Singapore, India, the six Gulf Arab states, Russia, Brazil and so forth will take part in the inaugural event. Heavyweight buyers include Kawamura Electric Inc., a Japanese household appliance vendor, Wuhan Iron and Steel Group Corp., a large-sized steelmaker from China, and Bukhamssen Group, a conglomerate from Kuwait.

IDB officials pointed out that different, distinct industrial clusters in the said cities, such as a high fastener producer density in Kaohsiung, are the biggest feature of the event, which allows foreign buyers to effectively inspect factories and production conditions of local suppliers, whenever they arrive in any of the cities during the running of the event. This will also help form more reliable partnerships between each others.

Fueled by contract orders expected following the event, IDB officials optimistically predict Taiwan's exports to rebound in the fourth quarter of this year from a quarter ago and reach US$300 billion for the entire year to add to full-year trade surplus estimated at NT$20 billion.