The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) yesterday presented a demo of a virtual-reality (VR) trade show system at the council’s 50th anniversary celebration in Taipei, after several trade exhibitions have been canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID is changing the way the world does business forever, and we have to be up to the challenge,” TAITRA chairman James Huang (黃世芳) said at the ceremony.
“Online exhibitions and product announcements will become the new normal. This new VR trade exhibition system will help Taiwanese companies compete,” Huang said.
Photo: CNA
Government-backed TAITRA organizes almost 40 trade shows a year, including Computex Taipei, the Taipei International Cycle Show and the Taiwan International Boat Show.
While the pandemic has resulted in the cancelation of many exhibitions, Huang said that TAITRA has made an effort to support Taiwanese businesses using technology, such as through hackathons and the Global Anti-COVID-19 Pavilion, an online information center featuring Taiwanese products.
Footwear, textile and mechanical parts manufacturers have been particularly hard hit by the outbreak, Huang said.
However, there are also bright spots, he said.
“Bicycle manufacturers have been doing very well because of the policies of the Japanese and European governments, which have used subsidies to encourage people to ride bikes rather than taking public transportation,” Huang said.
Businesses related to cloud services have also posted sales increases due to COVID-19, he added.
“It’s been a very patchy year overall, but our rate of economic growth for the first half of the year is still more than 1 percent,” Huang said. “Comparatively speaking, we have been blessed.”
The VR trade show system was developed by XRSpace Co Ltd (未來市). Company founder Peter Chou (周永明) used a VR headset to demonstrate how buyers and sellers can use the system to interact, shake hands and explore a virtual exhibition space.
The XRSpace MANOVA VR system would be available to the public from this month and is the first VR system that does away with the need for controllers, relying solely on hand gestures for interactivity, the company said.
Even though the focus of yesterday’s ceremony was on VR and digital technology, Huang said that Taiwan’s traditional industries have not been forgotten.
Now that the World Organisation for Animal Health has declared Taiwan proper, Penghu and Matsu a foot-and-mouth disease-free zone where vaccination is not practiced, Huang said he is determined to regain the lost Japanese market.
“Japan used to buy half their pork from us. They’ll buy from us again when we show them that Taiwanese pork is the best pork for Asian cuisine,” he said.
At the anniversary ceremony, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) praised TAITRA for playing a pivotal role in helping create the “Taiwan miracle.”
“Fifty years ago our gross foreign trade was only US$2.2 billion. Last year it was US$614 billion,” Wang said, “Thanks to TAITRA, foreign buyers discovered many products from Taiwan’s small and medium-sized businesses.”
Also at the ceremony, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) affirmed TAITRA’s role not only in promoting trade, but diplomacy, too.
“Under Taiwan’s unique diplomatic circumstances, TAITRA has more opportunities than the government to communicate widely and meaningfully all over the world. This helps Taiwan create diplomatic space,” Tsai said.
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