Taiwan’s Computex Taipei and Germany’s IFA, both among the world’s top four information and communication technology (ICT) trade shows, yesterday formed a strategic exhibition alliance to boost trade and business for all exhibitors.
The organizer of Taiwan’s show, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會), said yesterday it expected the alliance would entail regular e-newsletter distribution, the participation of top-ranking officials at events, as well as exchange advertisements in official exhibitor directories with its German counterpart.
“This collaboration will benefit the industry, help Taiwanese companies enter the European market and help European companies break into the Asian ICT market,” TAITRA executive vice president Walter Yeh (葉明水) told a media briefing yesterday.
Computex generates billions of US dollars in trade volume each year and has long served as a gateway for sourcing across Asia, while IFA, its European counterpart, takes place in Berlin every September.
Computex Taipei is scheduled for June 2 to June 6 at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Halls and Taipei International Convention Center (TICC) and will host 1,700 exhibitors with 4,600 booths. It has been overbooked since March, Yeh said.
Computex this year is expected to attract 35,000 international buyers and 100,000 domestic and global trade representatives. Purchasing potential is estimated at US$20 billion, not to mention travel-related and tourism opportunities for the nation, Yeh said.
The IFA in Berlin is the world’s leading trade show for the general public and the consumer electronics industry’s No. 1 venue for doing business.
Roland Wein, director of the German Trade Office (GTO) in Taipei, said 99 percent of IFA’s exhibition space had already been rented for this September’s show. IFA is anticipating growth of 4 percent in the number of exhibitors from last year’s 1,245 to this year’s 1,295.
“In 2008, IFA generated order volume in excess of 3 billion euros [US$3.98 billion], and we are expecting revenues to be in line this year” Wein said.
Last year at IFA Berlin several Taiwanese exhibitors were wrongly accused of IPR infringement and had their samples seized without proper investigation. This year, Computex and IFA have decided to put business first and overlook their differences, he said.
Wein told reporters that IFA has no jurisdiction over German police, customs officers or prosecutors, and although it cannot guarantee such incidents would never happen again, IFA would make sure all exhibitors’ rights are protected.
TAITRA will be hosting a legal conference on the issue on Tuesday to teach local companies how to protect themselves against legal troubles.
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