The Driving Force Behind 2010 Taipei Int’l Floral Expo
TAIPEI, Taiwan-(Business Wire)-September 8, 2009 - Chen Hsiung-wen, chief executive officer of the 2010 Taipei International Gardening and Horticulture Exposition, sincerely hopes to create for the Taipei Expo a beautiful and colorful new horizon. This non-political and unbiased Expo’s purpose is to attract visitors from all over the world to enjoy the unique charm of Taipei City, so as to “let the world see Taipei, and let Taipei embrace the world.”
To smoothly promote the event and create a blissful city of gardens, Taipei City Government has upgraded its software and hardware facilities to increase the output value of Taiwan’s floriculture and drive for economic and urban development, with hopes that the global community will have a better understanding of Taipei, said Chen, commissioner of the city’s Department of Economic Development who is the driving force behind the exposition.
Featuring a theme of “Flower, River, New Horizon,” the Taipei Expo ground spreads across an area of 91.8 hectares with 14 unique exhibition pavilions in four big parks. Each pavilion will showcase the beauty of horticulture, biotechnology and environmental protection technology. “This Expo looks to inspire visitors to implement green practices in daily life and thereby achieving the ultimate goal of protecting the Earth and preserving our splendid living environment,” explained Chen. During the 171-day event, the organizers have planned various performances of local arts and literature, domestic and international floral competitions, fashion design shows, carnival and other exhibitions. Visitors will also witness unprecedented horticulture production skills and the most advanced science and other technologies in the world.
Chen noted that the 1990 International Garden and Greenery Exposition in Osaka, Japan was the most impressive one among the previous expositions, and he believes the Taipei Expo will win similar acclaim from gardening lovers.
The frequent overseas visits Chen has made in the past two years demonstrated his confidence in the capability of local gardening and horticulture industry to sponsor a successful floral exposition. He attended several meetings of the Netherlands-based International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH), which granted Taipei the right to host the 2010 floral expo, and visited the Nantes International Floral Exposition in France in May.
He plans to attend an international flora meeting scheduled to be held at Lake Hamana in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan to learn its experience of hosting the 2004 international gardening exposition.
The 2010 Taipei International Floral Expo is the first category A2B1 world exposition for Taiwan to host under the authorization of an internationally recognized organization. Taipei is the fourth city in Asia and the seventh in the world to sponsor an international event of this type. Taipei City Government and Taiwan Floriculture Development Association won the bid to host the 2010 floral exposition back in April 2006 with their brilliant planning proposal and Taipei’s complete infrastructure.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin appointed Chen, instead of a highly ranked secretary-general of the city government, chief executive officer of the 2010 Taipei Expo because the Department of Economic Development under his direction is in charge of promoting Taipei’s economy through hosting the exposition. He also has the expertise of environmental engineering and is experienced in follow-up assessment of large projects. And Chen has won the trust of Mayor Hau when he served as the latter’s subordinate at the Executive Yuan’s Environmental Protection Administration.
The Taipei Expo is estimated to attract more than six million local and foreign visitors, Chen said, adding that the visitors will increase international exchange and drive the growth of floriculture-related businesses, biotechnology and tourism industries in Taiwan, which will bring in more than NT$11 billion direct and indirect economic revenues.
The Department of Economic Development estimates direct revenues provided by the Taipei Expo at NT$2.36 billion, including NT$1.26 billion in admission fees, NT$300 million in business franchise, NT$500 million in advertisements, and NT$300 million in enterprise support. Indirect revenues of NT$8.8 billion come from taxes (NT$600 million), tourism and recreation business earnings (NT$7.2 billion) and increased floriculture output value (NT$1 billion).
However, Commissioner Chen is more concerned about the future prospect for Taiwan’s floriculture industry. Hosting the exposition will directly benefit local producers, who will supply more than 90% of flowers and plants displayed at the exposition. And the organizers restricted bidders for expo subcontracts to local gardening businesses and floriculture groups to ensure they get benefit directly from the event.
Further calculations show the Taipei Expo will make a total investment of NT$3.529 billion, including direct investment of NT$2.42 billion in local floriculture industry and indirect investment of NT$1.103 billion. That’s substantial and immediate economic benefits for floriculture industry and producers in central and southern Taiwan.
With the planned use of more than 40 million local flowers and plants, the 2010 exposition will invest NT$1.017 billion in planting and NT$770 million in transforming Taipei into a garden city. An estimated NT$400 million in flower sales during the exposition and an investment of NT$2.2 billion next year will increase the output value of Taiwan’s floriculture industry by 23%. The annual output value stands at NT$9.482 billion, the Council of Agriculture statistics show.
Hosting the 2010 Taipei International Floral Expo displays Taiwan’s capability of organizing large-scale events and stimulating economic growth, as well as showcases the technological capability of Taiwan’s gardening and horticulture industry. Thanks to Commissioner Chen Hsiung-wen, who is the key for Taiwan to sponsor the Taipei Expo, the global community will have a better understanding of Taiwan through this event, which is also expected to enhance Taiwan’s visibility, image and status around the world. (By CNA Nelson Chung)
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6044171&lang=en
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
||
Search Our News Using Google Search
Can't find what you want? Try using Google:
