This year's Taiwan International Orchid Show will begin its 10-day run tomorrow at the International Flora Exhibition Center in Houpi Township (
Taiwan Orchid Plantation, the organizer of the fifth annual show, said this year's exhibition is expected to draw more than 300,000 visitors, including more than 2,000 overseas buyers.
The Tainan County Government said orchids are one of the nation's major exports, accounting for more than 50 percent of the total value of Taiwanese flower exports. The Taiwan Orchid Plantation plays an important role in these exports, the county said.
Orchid growers from 24 countries are taking part in this year's exhibition, including the US, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.
One part of the exhibition has been set aside to display landscape design using orchids. There will also be an orchid competition and a special area dedicated to newly developed rare orchid varieties. Visitors will also be able to buy orchids.
Meanwhile, the International Commercial Orchid Growers Organization will hold an International Orchid Symposium today to discuss orchid conservation, cultivation, biotechnology and its applications.
Taiwan is known as the "Kingdom of the Butterfly Orchid" because it is the world's largest exporter of the flower. About half the world's butterfly orchid varieties are grown in Taiwan.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is