In this week’s episode of Looking South, Eric Gau chats with TAITRA CEO and President Walter Yeh about the upcoming Taiwan Expo, to be held in Malaysia.
Transcript:
Eric Gau: Good morning everyone, I’m Eric Gau, and welcome to this week’s episode of Looking South, ICRT’s exclusive look at the governments New Southbound Policy and its effects. Today, we are joined by TAITRA President and CEO, Walter Yeh, to tell us about their upcoming Taiwan Expo to be held in Malaysia. Mr. Yeh, welcome to the show!
Walter Yeh: Hi. Good morning, Eric, and everyone.
Eric: As a reminder to our listeners, can you describe for us what the Taiwan Expo is?
Walter: Taiwan Expo is an exposition to display Taiwan’s innovative products and services, such as ICT, IOT, green industry, smart cities, smart manufacturing, and creative culture, e-commerce, and also Taiwan’s Halal food and Taiwan bubble tea. The purpose is, through these Taiwan Expos, to introduce Taiwan’s technology and services to our partners to create business opportunities, and also, to the consumers, to enhance their awareness of Taiwan’s products and services. It is a platform to bring businesses together, people together, and also sharing our resources to our partners. For the last two years, we have organized our Taiwan expos in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and India. This month, we are going to organize our Taiwan Expo in Malaysia, in KLCC Kuala Lumpur.
Eric: A Taiwan Expo was already held in Malaysia last year, in 2017. What was the reception like then?
Walter: Taiwan Expo 2017 in Malaysia showcased the most ground-breaking innovations, products, and services, focusing on seven things: Taiwan excellence, green technology, Muslim-friendly e-commerce services, education and career, medical techniques, and culture and tourism. 180 companies from Taiwan presented technological and industrial developments as well as education sources and advances. Nearly 20,000 consumers and trade visitors attended the 3-day expo and were awed by their experiences. 97% of the visitors liked the exhibition, and almost 90% wanted to visit Taiwan. The Taiwan Expo, therefore, served as a bridge between Malaysian and Taiwanese investors, as well as a platform to change views and cultivate business and trade opportunities.
Eric: For this year’s event, what have you learned from last year’s Expo, and how is it being expanded or improved?
Walter: Looking at last year, I still recall the Taiwan Expo in Malaysia as a memorable event. The smile on the face of the people tell us that Malaysians like our products and solutions, especially our Taiwan Excellence Pavilion, which brings innovative technologies and lifestyles. Also, the Taiwan Beauty Pavilion and the Taiwan Halal Pavilion attracted lots of people, even online celebrities who came to introduce Taiwanese products to their fans. What a surprise! We also created a Green Pavilion, which introduced green solutions to our Malaysian friends. They can experience our products and applications. By doing so, we received lots of inquiries about Taiwan green industry. This year, we also will set up the same pavilions. We hope to promote the change of our technology and services. Aside from our products, we also introduce our services to them, our creative culture, and our tourism, especially Taiwan’s most beautiful bike path, the majestic Toroko Gorge, a Muslim-friendly journey. We welcome more interchange between Taiwan and Malaysia.
Eric: What kind of businesses and organizations are taking part in this year’s Expo? Are any of them planning something special to showcase their offerings?
Walter: Taiwan is famous for functional fabrics. This year, we will invite the Taiwan Textile Federation to join the expo. As far as I know, they will showcase some functional and casual clothing to demonstrate our strength in this field. Indeed, we will host a unique event, the Fashion + Function show, on the afternoon of the first day. The Taipei City and Taichung City governments will also have essential roles in our exhibition, showcasing exceptional products such as garbage and recycling integration systems, 3D virtual fitting, smart phone 3D printers, and some mouth-watering food. The Council of Agriculture is also bringing 6 companies to showcase delicious foods and innovative agricultural technology. Moreover, we know that e-gaming is hot in Malaysia. More than 1/3 of the population are e-game fans, and therefore we are showcasing Taiwanese brands, such as ACER, ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI. Furthermore, we are hosting the Taiwan Excellence Inter-college Campaign during the three-day event with the aim of introducing and enabling the first-hand experience of Taiwanese gaming and ICT brands and products for Malaysia youth.
Eric: What’s in store for the future for the Taiwan Expo? Where is it going next? Is it going to expand to new countries?
Walter: Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy. We are honored to hold the Taiwan Expos in Indonesia, Vietnam, India, The Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia. Each Taiwan Expo will highlight Taiwan’s industries, technology standards, and cultural depth. Their significant exhibition segments including culture, talent, and tourism, smart city, green technology, health care, agricultural tech, and good living, combined with industry seminars and business opportunity matchmaking sessions. The Taiwan Expos will not only present insights from an industrial perspective, but create opportunities for interaction between the countries. We are currently planning next year schedule, and refining the contents. We will take exhibitors’ feedback into account in determining where to hold the expos. We are now looking at the Taiwan Expo in a new light. As the project evolves, you can look forward to our good news.
Eric: We’ve been chatting with TAITRA CEO and President Walter Yeh about the Taiwan Expo, to be held later this month in Malaysia. Mr. Yeh, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.
Walter: Thank you very much Eric, thank you for having me here today.
Eric: And that wraps up today’s Looking South. Join us again next week for a fresh look at the central government’s New Southbound Policy. I’m Eric Gau, and thank you for tuning in.