The annual international food show Food Taipei opened yesterday, with the first-ever Lithuanian pavilion drawing a lot of attention.
The Lithuanian pavilion is one of 15 national pavilions featured at the show, and is participating for the first time because of the growing friendship and mutual support between the two countries, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) chairman James Huang (黃志芳) said.
The pavilion, which features 25 companies, including importers and distributors of Lithuanian products, opened with a traditional dance performance and Huang presenting a large block of chocolate decorated with depictions of Taiwan and Lithuania, a heart and a Christmas tree.
Photo: CNA
“Lithuania is our new friend in Europe. It is a very friendly nation that supports Taiwan wholeheartedly and TAITRA reciprocated by inviting some of the Lithuanian pavilion participants,” Huang said.
Huang was referring to the Baltic state allowing Taiwan to open a representative office in Vilnius last month using the name “Taiwanese” as its official title. Taiwan’s representative offices in other European countries usually use “Taipei” in their official title.
Huang said he believed Taiwanese would be eager to buy Lithuanian products to show their gratitude to the country, adding that Lithuania can use the opportunity to introduce its products to Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Two products featured at the Lithuanian pavilion are a special buckwheat grain that Lithuanians boil and eat with butter and a high mineral content spring water.
Ausra Andriuskaite, chairwoman of the Lithuanian community in Taiwan, said that even though there are only about 22 Lithuanian residents in Taiwan, she is still confident that Lithuania’s food products would find success in Taiwan, because consumers have similar preferences.
“Lithuanians and Taiwanese like to eat good quality and healthy food, and food from Lithuania is exactly like that,” said Andriuskaite, who is married to a Taiwanese and has lived in Taiwan for the past seven years.
“Taiwanese also like to try new things and they support Lithuania, so for sure they will want to taste the country’s food products,” she added.
Taiwan’s bilateral trade with Lithuania totaled US$155.692 million in the first 11 months of this year, with US$116.863 million in exports and US$38.829 million in imports, Bureau of Foreign Trade statistics showed.
Another national pavilion that drew a lot of attention was the Indonesian showcase, which features 10 companies offering food, snacks and sauces from global brand names, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.
Trade analyst Muhammad Fuad Hamzah from the Indonesia Economic and Trade Office to Taipei said that Indonesian snacks are popular in Taiwan, many of which can be found at Southeast Asian grocery stores and big supermarket chains.
Taiwan imported US$44.802 million of Indonesian processed food from January to last month, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, Fuad said.
Meanwhile, the Somaliland pavilion attracted scores of visitors eager to sample the country’s cooked food, such as a meat jerky known as muqmad and a confectionery called halwa.
Somaliland Representative to Taiwan Mohamed Hagi said it is the first time his office is taking part in the trade show, and their objective is to share the country’s culinary culture with Taiwanese before bringing a larger delegation of food manufacturers and distributors next year.
“Next year, we are planning to have a very big presence, and to invite our food companies and big restaurants to exhibit more about Somaliland’s culture to Taiwanese people,” he said.
Food Taipei, which runs until Saturday, is showcasing products from 28 countries and 478 businesses, spread out over 1,120 booths at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s Hall 2.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
RSS