A three-in-one food fair that features Food Taipei, Foodtech Taipei and Taipei Pack kicked off at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall yesterday, with 1,077 manufacturers showcasing their latest products in 2,531 booths at the combined event.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Chao Yung-chuan (趙永全), secretary-general of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會), said the number of manufacturers taking part and the total number of booths represented increases of 19.9 percent and 3.3 percent respectively over last year’s event.
More than 3,000 foreign professional buyers and some 40,000 domestic businesspeople are expected to visit this year’s fair, he said.
Chao said the fair is an important platform for domestic food producers to make contacts with the rest of the world.
CONVENIENCE
He also said that TAITRA had combined the three fairs to make it more convenient for foreign buyers visiting from far away to learn more about all facets of Taiwan’s food industry and to make deals.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) said that Taiwan’s food industry had a production value of NT$459 billion (US$15.13 billion) last year, saying that it performed well in both domestic and overseas sales.
FOOD SECTOR
Yiin said that since Taiwan entered the WTO in 2002, overseas business opportunities for domestic food manufacturers had expanded considerably, adding that the manufacturers have become more internationalized in the process.
He said that the influence of domestic food producers in foreign markets, such as China and South Asian countries, had grown considerably, adding that their total overseas trade value for last year amounted to NT$4.73 billion.
After speaking at the opening ceremony, Yiin visited the Salvadoran pavilion and some of the 27 other national pavilions set up at this year’s event.
The fair runs until Saturday, with the first two days of the event open to professional buyers and the last two days open to the general public.
The public admission fee is NT$300.
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