American Technology on Display at the Computex Taipei '98 USA Pavilion

PR9823E | Date: 1998-05-29

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) will host the largest foreign pavilion at COMPUTEX Taipei 98. The USA Pavilion will feature more than fifty U.S. firms, utilize sixty six booths, and will highlight primarily small and medium-sized companies.

AIT, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Commerce, has organized a new feature this year: the USA Catalog Showcase. In addition, three U.S. states will sponsor booths: Arizona, Oklahoma, and Utah.

Mr. William Brekke, , Chief of AIT's Commercial Section, announced that for the first time, two officials from the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC) will attend Computex Taipei '98 to support the USA Pavilion. Richard Swanson, USDOC's National Information Technology Team Coordinator, will work with AIT to coordinate the USA Catalog Showcase. Swanson leads a team of more than twenty five USDOC trade specialists who promote U.S. high-tech firms throughout the world. Louisa Chiang, a USDOC trade specialist based in California's Silicon Valley, will also work with firms in the USA Pavilion.

Among the companies appearing in the Pavilion are two companies which will make their COMPUTEX debut and have never before exported to Taiwan. Neon Technology Inc. produces Internet Set-Top Boxes. SIIG is an innovator in PCI I/O hardware.

According to Mr. Brekke: "AIT is particularly proud of the fact that the USA Pavilion provides a showcase for small and medium-sized firms which are expanding their presence in Asia. While the large firms get the media spotlight, much of the growth in the U.S. high-tech sector comes from these relatively small companies. I urge visitors to come to our pavilion to learn about these dynamic firms."

AIT has also arranged a series of special presentations by U.S. firms. A complete list of exhibitors and events is available from the AIT Commercial Section and at AIT's Computex web site: http://ait.org.tw/ait/comm/computex.htm.

The United States exported $357 million in PCs and peripherals in 1997 to Taiwan and is projected to export $447 million this year, with additional expected growth of 15%-20% over the next two years. The U.S. information technology industry is the largest in the world.

The USA Pavilion at COMPUTEX Taipei 98 will be at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall, Area B, from June 2-6, 1998. COMPUTEX is the largest information technology trade show in Asia.

AIT maintains an Internet web site at: www.ait.org.tw; and can be contacted by fax at 886-2-757-7162 and e-mail: OTaipei@doc.gov.