Exhibition center turns to German experts for help

Officials responsible for the new international exhibition center currently under construction on a site next to the Nankang Software Park (南港軟體園區) sought advice from a German fair organizer yesterday on how to succeed in an internationally competitive environment.

"Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and also China have large exhibition venues and we need to compete," said Jaime Chen (陳銘師), executive secretary of the Board of Foreign Trade's task force for the new exhibition center, at a joint conference with Messe Duesseldorf.

The new Nankang exhibition center is expected to accommodate 2,600 booths on a 60,000m2 site, double the capacity of the nation's current largest venue, the Taipei World Trade Center.

The Duesseldorf interna-tional exhibition site covers 267,000m2 and has been in operation for over 50 years, the city's mayor Joachim Erwin said yesterday.

Erwin arrived on Sunday for a four-day visit to promote trade fairs in his city.

The government here is investing NT$3.8 billion in the first phase -- the exhibition hall -- of the controversial Nankang project, which has been criticized for not being large enough for the nation's future exhibition needs, while Taiwan Fertilizer Co (台肥) is planning to build a hotel and shopping mall at the site in the second phase, Chen confirmed yesterday.

In comparison, Erwin said the Duesseldorf site is currently being expanded with a cash injection of 800 million euros (NT$30 billion) to include a 50,000-seat arena, two hotels, four new exhibition halls and an underground station.

Taiwan's exhibition organizers have a lot to learn from their German counterparts, one industry expert said.

"Turkey used the CPD Fabrics trade fair to extend its products into the European market, not only [custom-made] but also brands," said Justin Huang (黃偉基), deputy secretary general of the Taiwan Textile Federation (紡拓會).

Last year, Turkey sent 115 companies to the CPD Fabrics exhibition in Duesseldorf, a leading fashion industry show.

"Taiwan can learn from this example and become the sourcing center for Asian branded products," Huang said.

Taiwan exported textiles worth US$12 billion last year, according to the textile federation's statistics.

Taiwan needs the help of the Germans to develop into an Asian sourcing hub, another official said.

"We can learn from the example of Germany," said Jeremy Hong (洪銘欽), manager of the exhibition department at the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA), Taiwan's largest exhibition organizer.

"Germany is a country renowned for international exhibitions," Hong said.

One piece of advice Duesseldorf's mayor had for Taiwan was the importance of a unique selling point.

"We are all competing and everybody can be happy, but you need to have attractive themes to bring in visitors," Erwin said.

Taiwan's theme is exports, CETRA's Hong said.

"We all agree that Taiwan products are very competitive. We lead the world in at least 10 areas, so the new exhibition will be an export-oriented venue," Hong said.

Between 70 and 80 percent of Taiwan's US$300 billion economy is dependent on exports, according to CETRA statistics.

But Messe Duesseldorf won't be investing hard cash in the new Nankang facility.

"Our idea is not to invest in concrete buildings," Erwin told the Taipei Times yesterday. "What we plan to offer is know-how."