The 22nd Asian Advertising Congress (AdAsia 2001 Taipei), in town for the next three days, is the second major international event to be held in Taiwan in as many weeks, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said during a speech yesterday at the Taipei International Convention Center.
"Recently, we've had two very significant events that I'd like to share with you," Chen said.
"First, the Republic of China and its 23 million people, after a 12-year effort, finally won entry into the WTO, a major milestone for Taiwan and a step onto the world stage.
"Second, after a 35-year absence, the Republic of China is playing host to the first AdAsia 2001 exhibition of the 21st century," he said.
He also reminded the crowd that "in 1997, when I was mayor of Taipei, [the government and local ad industry] worked together to win the bid for the event to be held in Taipei."
AdAsia 2001 and the AdAsia Congress that kicked off yesterday aim to bring together advertising industry professionals from around the region to share ideas and seek solutions to major problems facing the industry.
Speakers at this year's event include Stan Shih (
AdAsia is sponsored by the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA), which includes members from 12 nations.
The last time the event was held in Taiwan was in 1966. After Taiwan's expulsion from the UN, it also pulled out of the AFAA, making it ineligible to host AdAsia. According to this year's organizers, Taiwan rejoined the group in 1992.
In 1995, China's membership in the organization was revoked after it stopped paying membership dues.
China ceased payments after a spat with Taiwan over the name of the country's delegation -- the Taipei Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies -- because it didn't include the term "Chinese-Taipei."
After the Taiwanese prevailed, China not only refused to pay dues, it also prevented delegates from attending AFAA meetings in their official capacity. AFAA responded by kicking China out of the group. It has invited the country to re-join every year since then, but to no avail.
However, individual Chinese advertising professionals continue to attend every year.
A third major international event, which was held in Taipei and also saw Chinese petulance preclude the mainland's participation, was the just-concluded Baseball World Cup.
David Hanger, global president of the International Advertising Association, gave praise to regional advertising professionals during his speech to the gathering. He also challenged the professionals.
He said that the past 25 years have been exciting for the development of Asian economies and he challenged member nations to work on building more global brand names.
"The big global brands in this world don't slow down when the world slows down. They grab market share," he said. He challenged the region to build at least one globally recognizable brand name per year for the next 25 years.
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