Taipei 101 has finally found a sponsor for this month’s New Year’s fireworks show after a long search, but the company’s name is not being announced until today, Taipei 101 spokesman Michael Liu (劉家豪) said yesterday.
Liu said the sponsor is a Taiwanese enterprise that identifies with this year’s theme of “Nature is Future” and is providing the NT$45 million (US$1.37 million) the show is estimated to cost.
Taipei 101 started its annual fireworks show in 2004 and it is to stage the extravaganza for the 11th time this year.
“The rising cost of the fireworks display and the sluggish economy this year made it difficult to find a sponsor,” Liu said.
Though the skyscraper’s operator began its search in June, it struggled to find an appropriate partner, and at one point in November, Liu said, it was considering replacing the high-profile fireworks display with light-emitting diode displays, but a partner has finally been found, though it is not being identified until an official announcement is made today.
A total of 30,000 fireworks are expected to be set off at Taipei 101 this year in 238 seconds, which would make it the longest-ever fireworks show at the skyscraper.
“Nature is Future” is to be the theme of the display, with images of fish, flowers and plants to be depicted for the first time to raise awareness of environmental protection issues.
Last month, Liu said Taipei 101 had allocated more than NT$50 million over a two-year period to change its lights to LEDs, hinting that this year’s fireworks display could be the last.
After the change, the lights would be brighter and the control system smarter so that different lighting shows could be created in celebration of different events and festivals, Liu said.
Meanwhile, amid concerns that the skyscraper could become the target of a terrorist attack, Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) said Taipei 101 has stepped up security measures.
Chang was answering a question from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Hsiu-yen (盧秀燕), who expressed concern that the building could become the target of an attack by the Islamic State group, which listed Taiwan as part of a “global coalition” aligned against it in a video last week.
Chang said security checks at the building had been intensified following the terror attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 and that the Customs Administration had also tightened inspections of imported goods, stressing that the government is not just working to protect Taipei 101, but the nation as a whole.
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