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Taipei inks expo cooperation deal

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin, second right, gives the thumbs up during a joint press conference yesterday on the 2010 Taipei Flora Expo. Hau signed a letter of intent with 20 local governments who have promised to help organize the international exposition. PHOTO: CNA

The Taipei City Government signed a letter of intent yesterday with 20 local governments who will help put together the 2010 Taipei International Gardening and Horticulture Exposition (Taipei Flora Expo).

“The Taipei Flora Expo is an event that would require more effort than just the Taipei City Government’s. With the help and resources of 20 other local governments, the expo will make Taiwan proud,” Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said at the signing ceremony.

Taipei will be the seventh city in Asia to host international members of the horticultural industry.

The expo will attract more than 8 million visitors and a total investment of NT$3.53 billion (US$100 million), Hau said.

It will also create a minimum NT$16.8 billion in revenue, which would benefit Taiwan’s tourism and travel industry and economic development, he said.

During the 171-day event, which begins on Nov. 6 next year, a different country or city will be featured each week, focusing on its flora, food, agricultural products and tourist attractions, Hau said.

“The Taipei Flora Expo is an event that would require more effort than just the Taipei City Government’s. With the help and resources of 20 other local governments, the expo will make Taiwan proud.” — Hau Lung-bin, Taipei mayor

The expo will also include performances by local schools and groups to display Taiwan’s diverse culture, he said.

Residents of participating cities and counties will be entitled to discounted admission to the fair, he said.

Under the theme “Flower, River, New Horizon,” the Taipei Expo will feature 14 pavilions that will focus on flora and horticulture, culture and arts, environmental ecology and pioneering technology, the mayor said.

In related news, the local ticket sales agent for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo said yesterday that only a few thousand tickets have been sold here since May.

More than 1 million Taiwanese are expected to visit the expo, but sales have not been as good as forecast, a senior China Travel Services executive said.

Pre-sale tickets are being sold for NT$700 each until the end of the year, Chang said

She said her company’s bid to become the exclusive local sales agent for the expo was made mainly to attract Taiwanese who would also book travel packages for the Shanghai World Expo rather than to profit from the tickets themselves.

Of the tickets sold so far, 1,200 were bought by an organization that promotes cross-strait exchanges, while others have been snapped up by Taiwanese businesspeople operating in China and by schools for student study tours, Chang said as she manned her company’s booth at the Fourth Cross-Taiwan Strait Travel Fair at the Taipei World Trade Center.
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