THE popular regional Taiwan Expo will be held in Penang for the first time ever next month where hundreds of new age items from green technology, medical equipment to halal products, fashion, cosmetics as well as culture and tourism products and services will be on display.
To be held at the Setia SPICE Convention Center in Bayan Baru on July 5 and 6, the event is expected to have a significant impact on Penang’s economy since both sides enjoy the closest of cultural, economy and educational links.
Penang is regarded as the mini - Taiwan as the inhabitants of both islands mostly speak the Hokkien dialect and they share many distinctive cultural and educational links, while there are also many Taiwanese investors here in the manufacturing, trade and lifestyle sectors.
Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) executive vice - president Leonor F.M. Lin, Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) northern region office director Sharifah Nazreen Farhana Syed Marzuki, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Malaysia’s representative Anne Hung and state executive councillor Datuk Abdul Halim Hussein, who is in charge of trade held a joint - press conference at the G - Hotel here to mark the occasion.
They spoke of the vast potential that the expo will bring to both Malaysia and Taiwan, as it can further consolidate the growing trade ties that both sides enjoy in a globalised economy.
Lin extolled that Taiwan has also invested heavily in halal-based consumerism products and they wish to share such developments with their Malaysian counterparts.
Earlier Sharifah released the latest trade statistics between Malaysia and Taiwan, citing that the island was the country’s sixth largest trading partner last year with RM96.09 billion (USD23.78 billion), which accounted for a 5.1% share of Malaysia’s global trade. In 2018, Taiwan was Malaysia’s 11th largest export destination.
“I am pleased to inform that for the first four months of 2019, our bilateral trade grew by 9.0% with the excellent trade and economic relationship between Malaysia and Taiwan. I believe that the Taiwan Expo 2019 will be able to attract many trade visitors not only from Malaysia but other countries in the region that will continuously create more business opportunities,“ said Sharifah.
This year’s expo will bring in more than 100 manufacturers across 110 booths and Taiwan companies are keen to collaborate with Penang in areas such as green technology, original equipment manufacturing and even the world famous bubble tea products.
