Twenty-two creative brands have been chosen through the Fresh Taiwan program to be showcased at trade shows this year in New York City, Paris and Bangkok to promote Taiwanese innovation and products, the program’s organizers said yesterday.
The products range from angled table clocks and one-piece leather bags to electric wine aerators, which the program plans to display at NY Now from Sunday next week to Aug. 14, Maison & Objet Paris from Sept. 6 to Sept. 10 and Style Bangkok from Oct. 17 to Oct. 21.
The program’s goal is to elevate the profile of Taiwan’s design industry at international trade fairs, said Deputy Minister of Culture Kevin Peng (彭俊亨), whose ministry is responsible for Fresh Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Culture via CNA
“The program is about us as a country helping to promote outstanding Taiwanese products so that they can be seen by people around the globe,” Peng said.
The promotion of cultural and creative brands is a core aspect of cultural promotion, which helps integrate culture into everyday living, he added.
Among the brands to be showcased is Studio Smoll, makers of the Twins_DIY Leather Tote Bag, which is made from folding one piece of leather to create symmetrical and independent compartments.
Studio Smoll is to exhibit at NY Now and Maison & Objet Paris.
“Our products are still relatively new and that might result in a certain lack of trust from some consumers, so being exhibited on an international level will help buyers learn about our products,” Studio Smoll cofounder Tsai Chen-yu (蔡鎮宇) said.
Since the Fresh Taiwan program launched in 2012, 320 labels have been showcased at 34 international trade shows in 92 cities across 31 countries, Peng said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai