Taiwanese banks will back plant restoration in Thailand

Yang said he had urged TAMI members to give priority to Thai customers, especially for machinery replacement, so factories here can return to normal operations as soon as possible.

“Despite the recent flood crisis, I'm still confident in the Thai market. I still believe that Thailand will enjoy positive economic growth and there will be no repeat of this flood incident. Taiwanese machinery suppliers will do their best to stand by Thai factories and distributors,” he said.

The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (Taitra) joined with 53 Taiwanese manufacturers showcasing their business capabilities at the Metalex 2011 fair at Bitec Bang Na, which kicked off on Wednesday and ended Saturday. A huge pavilion, occupying more than 1,700 square meters, demonstrated state-of-the-art machine tools and technologies for factory restoration.

Taiwan has participated in the Metalex exhibition in Thailand since 1997. The Taiwanese pavilion has occupied the largest space at the show for many years. The objective is to promote Taiwanese machinery among Thai factory operators and take the lead in sales via face-to-face communication.

According to Taitra, the value of machinery imported to Thailand from Taiwan last year exceeded Bt2.5 billion (US$79 million). The major categories imported are machining centers at 1.14 billion baht, lathes at 930 million baht, and drilling/tapping devices at 390 million baht.

Taiwan is the second-largest machinery exporter to Thailand behind Japan. Machinery imports from Taiwan increased by 7.76 percent in the January-October period this year compared with the same period in 2010.

According to the Thai Machinery Association, machinery imports from Taiwan will increase significantly, by at least 10 percent, because of damage caused by the recent floods.

Japan is still the leader in the machine-tool market in Thailand, especially among multinational manufacturers, whose equipment-purchase decisions are determined by their overseas headquarters. Taiwan, however, targets local manufacturers, particularly medium-sized companies, whose decisions are made by Thai management.

At Metalex last week, manufacturers have had a chance to experience new, efficient technologies and capabilities of world-class machines and tools and to consult on best practices for restoring flood-hit factories.

Taitra director Justin CK Tai said the event was also a good opportunity for Taiwanese business operators to take part in providing assistance and suggestions to all manufacturers in Thailand that have been hit hard by the floods. The council therefore invited 53 leading machine-tool manufacturers to showcase their machines and technologies, which have been recognized by many international manufacturers as world-class.

The showcase covered all industrial sectors and offered reasonable prices, he said.

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