The world's biggest information technology fair came to a close yesterday with Taiwanese companies -- the biggest collective exhibitor -- reporting rave results.
Moreover, CeBIT 2000 appears to have marked a turning point in the way Taiwanese are eyeing the spoils of the greater European market -- and, for that matter, the way the European market is eyeing a multiplicity of quality and competitively priced products from Taiwan.
In fact, response this year has been so positive, a number of Taiwanese sales reps, working on stands still inundated with visitors on the final day, say they expect sales totals and targets for March to more than double.
And according to officials from the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA,
"Of course the first three days were the most hectic," said Jerry Liu, deputy director for market development at CETRA, "and the public was quick to sign on to our new CetraNet, a database of more than 67,000 companies and products in Taiwan.
This, said Liu, was just one of a number of original new initiatives taken by CETRA at CeBIT 2000 to extend the outreach of Taiwan's presence at the show and to offer an instantly available portal for further research and contact with companies back in Taiwan, many on a waiting list for booths here next year.
CETRA's seminars for journalists and international buyers on the subjects of the IT industry in the post-PC era and software development strategies, he said, had also proved popular.
Feedback from companies on the Taiwanese stands had been unanimously positive, said De-Anne Young, a sales specialist for Hannover Pacific, and overall consensus pointed to a resounding success.
It could still, however, take a few weeks to compare statistics and draw final conclusions.
"Those companies that came here to look for OEM contracts and distributors all said they had found them," she said, while others, such as Cyberlink Corp with their award-winning video conferencing and DVD software, were already asking to extend their booth space.
Without a doubt she said, Taiwan companies were finding their feet in the European market and were more motivated to push their own brand name products.
In this category companies that came in for special mention were Animation for its video conferencing systems, PAC Interactive and Actima for CDR writers and DVD.
"This is our first time at CeBIT," said Actima account executive Carol Yang, "and we've been overwhelmed by the response of visitors."
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