The Ministry of Culture said Wednesday it will hold an expo in October to market products from Taiwan's cultural and creative industry to local and international buyers to help boost the industry in Taiwan.
The international expo, to run from Oct. 18 to 21 in Taipei, is expected to attract buyers and exhibitors from China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries, said Deputy Culture Minister Chang Yun-cheng.
Now in its third year, the annual expo is a platform for businesses in Taiwan and abroad, many of them micro-businesses, to display and sell cultural and creative products, as well as to seek opportunities to cooperate with other businesses and distributors.
A total of 868 booths were set up by 457 exhibitors from 14 countries at the expo last year, attracting over 70,000 visitors and generating sales of over NT$227 million (US$7.62 million).
Chang said the expo is part of a government effort beginning in 2002 to support the cultural and creative industry in the country.
The cultural and creative industry will become a mainstream industry in the world, said Chang, adding that the combination of culture with industry is a path that Taiwan 'must take' to build its economy.
Chang Pen-tsao, chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of China, the executor of the expo, said he hopes that more than 100,000 visitors will participate this year.
The expo aims to create a platform so that 'cultural and creative ideas can be turned into products on the market,' said the chairman.
He added that his chamber has been in touch with major malls and department stores in large Chinese cities, hoping to invite them to the expo so that Taiwan's cultural and creative businesses can establish links with these distributors.
Furthermore, he said, the head of a credit guarantee fund in Taiwan has agreed to serve as the guarantor for promising cultural and creative businesses that have won the expo's awards so they can borrow more easily from banks.
Taiwan has some 100,000 cultural and creative businesses, with annual production value estimated at NT$616.6 billion, said the Ministry.
The expo will be held at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall.