More than 700 companies from home and abroad have been attracted to take part in the Taipei International Machinery Tool Show (TIMTOS) 2007, which opens at the Taipei World Trade Center today, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said yesterday.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will officially open the exhibition, which is the third-largest of its kind in Asia in terms of exhibition scale and value.
A total of 713 Taiwanese and foreign companies have signed up to take part in the six-day TIMTOS 2007, marking an increase of 10.5 percent over the previous show held in 2005, with a total of 2,778 booths, up 4.3 percent, according to TAITRA officials.
TIMTOS 2007 -- touted as an exhibition of machine tools demonstrating "high speed, high precision and high efficiency" -- is expected to attract a record number of buyers and visitors: 3,800 foreign buyers and 35,000 local visitors.
The Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry, co-sponsor of the show, estimates that procurement meetings will help generate business opportunities worth US$200 million to US$300 million for the domestic machinery industry this year.
Meanwhile, TIMTOS 2007 will also offer a series of seminars to give "insider's tips" and help local makers and exporters explore overseas markets and gather the latest market information and the newest technology. Speakers are expected to come from Russia, Brazil, India, South Africa, Malaysia, Japan and Turkey.
Taiwan is the fourth largest machine tools exporting country in the world, behind only Japan, Germany and Italy. Taiwan exported NT$96.3 billion (US$2.95 billion) worth of machine tools and related products last year, up 11.5 percent over the year before.
According to an estimate made by the Industrial Development Bureau, Taiwan has the potential to export NT$400 billion worth of machine tools and parts by 2010.
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