TAITRA unveils plan to help Taiwan auto-parts suppliers tap world market

Taipei, May 25, 2004 (CENS)--Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), Taiwan's government-backed trade development organization, has newly unveiled an aggressive plan to help Taiwan's auto-parts suppliers tap the world market.

TETRA will lure auto-parts multinationals to open international procurement offices (IPOs) in Taiwan and co-organize trade delegations with Taiwan Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, Taiwan Mold & Die Industry Association and Taiwan Plastics Industry Association to visit car makers in India and Shanghai, mainland China in July this year. Over the past two months, the council has organized trade delegations to visit European and American car makers.

The Ministry of Economics Affairs has been actively helping the island's small and medium-sized enterprises tap the world market since the newly appointed Minister M.Y. Ho took office few days ago.

TAITRA pointed out that although Taiwan's auto-parts industry has prosperously developed, no single suppliers on the island can grow big in size because of limited domestic market. Instead, the Taiwan industry has developed diversified products in small-volume production and for after-service markets.

TAITRA officials pointed out that most of Taiwan's auto-parts makers have relied on the home market, limiting their capability of developing overseas markets and forcing them to simply count on trade shows to tap world markets. So, the organization organized parts suppliers to visited major carmakers in North America including U.S. Big Three--Ford, GM and DaimlerChrysler--this month.

Their visit received harvest in Canada, with a Taiwanese parts supplier winning contracts for its engine parts and another maker securing contracts for 80,000 units of each of its five new items. A Taiwanese supplier pointed out that the contracts proved that Taiwan's quality already met international standards.

For those carmakers and heavyweight parts suppliers operating international procurement offices in Shanghai, TAITRA introduced a program, dubbed as "virtual IPO," to recommend them Taiwanese parts suppliers, pass parts samples and layouts from Taiwanese suppliers to them, arrange visits and meetings with Taiwanese suppliers for them, and collect quotations for them through professional people. The program aims at luring the carmakers and heavyweight parts suppliers to procure in Taiwan.

TAITRA officials pointed out that the organization's market-development plan would first target Canada, the United States, Europe and Japan, hoping to prompt five to 10 suppliers to close OEM-based deals a year and organize five to 10 procurement meetings a year.