Remarks by AIT Commercial Section Chief Gregory Loose At Press Conference for New Products USA 2005 (NPUSA 2005)

BG0517E | Date: 2005-09-15

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you for coming today.

Before addressing the main topic of today's conference, I would like to take this opportunity to express heartfelt thanks to the people of Taiwan for generous expressions of support to Americans who were affected by Hurricane Katrina.  Such offers of help from our friends around the world are welcome and deeply appreciated.

On behalf of the Commercial Section of American Institute in Taiwan, I am honored to have this opportunity to provide you with information on the "New Products USA 2005" catalog show trade mission from America which will visit Taichung next Tuesday, September 20.  About 150 U.S. companies from 32 states will be represented in this mission.  They are seeking partners in Taiwan to serve as agents or distributors for their products.

With outstanding support from the co-sponsor of this event, the Taichung Importers and Exporters Chamber of Commerce, and others such as the City Government of Taichung and the TAITRA office in Taichung, we are inviting all businesspeople in central Taiwan who are interested in finding American companies to work with to attend this one-day event.

Looking back on the history of the New Products USA Multi-State Catalog Exhibition series, we first staged an American Products Show in Taichung back in 1985.  That show helped to generate the long-term interest in this annual series that has since been staged many times in Taipei and Kaohsiung.  This year, we are happy to be coming back to Taichung, where it all started!  The Taichung program will be the first stop in a tour which will then go to Chengdu, Jakarta, Manila, and Hanoi.  But it all kicks off here, and we at AIT are very pleased to be able to highlight Taichung, which has been home to a number of U.S. companies and its own American Chamber of Commerce for many years.  The city is also home to many of our long-standing friends such as the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation.  We believe that this tradition will grow even stronger with the launch of the Central Taiwan Science Park, which already has attracted U.S. investors.

The catalog show concept has proven to be a very popular format in Taiwan over the years, because the equipment and components offered to importers cover a wide variety of industrial and commercial sectors.  This year, representatives of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. states of Florida, South Carolina, and Oklahoma, as well as staff from AIT Taipei and Kaohsiung will be present to introduce products in such areas as:

• Security and Safety Equipment
• Environmental Technologies
• Telecommunications Equipment
• Computer Services & Software
• Food Processing and Packaging
• Industrial Chemicals
• Laboratory Scientific Instruments
• Electronics Industry Prod/Test Equipment
• Plastics Materials/Resins
• Electrical Power Generation
• Medical Equipment
• Household consumer goods
• Cosmetics

We believe the New Products USA Catalog Exhibition 2005 will benefit Taichung and other central Taiwan area importers and manufacturers by introducing innovative products to the market, by making new technologies available to Taiwan, and by facilitating partnerships between Taiwan firms and American companies.  We at AIT and our partners from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the participating states will be very happy to facilitate contact between Taiwan and American companies so that they can develop mutually beneficial ties.

The event will be held during 9:00-5:00 on September 20 at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Taichung.  Businesses interested in representing American products in Taiwan are invited to attend.  We strongly advise interested visitors to pre-register online at  www.buyusa.gov/taiwan/zh or by fax (02-2757-7162 or 02-2757-7162).

In addition to the catalogs on display, we will offer two seminars featuring our online resources, business matchmaking services, tourism information provided by SeeAmerica.org for businesspeople traveling to the U.S., and visa information.

Finally, I would like to thank the staff of the American Corner for hosting this meeting today, and to the City of Taichung for its generous support in making this Corner possible.

Thank you.