TaipeiPlas 2012 - Advanced technologies take centre stage

The biennial Taipei International Plastics & Rubber Industry Show has become one of Asia's leading events. Co-organised by Taiwan External Trade Development Council and Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry since 1987, the show will mark its 13th edition this year from 21-25 September. More than 450 exhibitors will occupy over 2,500 booths in this premier event.

Taiwan has been ranked as world's 5th biggest producer and 4th biggest exporter of plastic and rubber processing machinery. With quality design and highly competitive price, Taiwan-based machinery manufacturers have taken great strides in developing products for the global market with the Middle East being an important region. Since the ECFA (Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement) came into effect on 1 January 2011, Taiwan's primary and secondary industries have been benefiting from the tariff reductions and exemption, thereby boosting the price competiveness of Taiwan machinery in the Mainland China.

Taiwan's overall machinery industry is expected to recover with production value growing from 6% to 9% year-on-year this year. This projection results from a study carried out by Yeh Lih-lun, an industry analyst with the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK), a unit of the government-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). The study was commissioned by the Economics Ministry's Department of Industrial Technology under the Industrial Technology Intelligence Services (ITIS) program. Despite the impact of the European sovereign debt crisis, Taiwan's machinery industry is expected to see production value reach NT$242.3 billion in the third quarter of 2011, up 12.06% year-on-year.

Industrial machinery is one of the largest sectors in Taiwan's machinery industry in terms of production value. The sector includes woodworking machinery, plastic processing machinery, textile machinery, food processing machinery, printing machinery, chemical machinery, packaging machinery, etc. Other major machinery sectors include pumps, compressors and fans; conveyors and automation equipment; and mechanical transmission devices.