The turnout at this year's Taipei International Gift & Stationery Spring Show (Giftionery Taipei 2003), held April 24-28, plunged to a record low as exhibitors and visitors worried about severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) stayed home.

Despite fears of the epidemic, however, the newly opened Electronic Stationery exhibition area generated an enthusiastic response from the overseas buyers in attendance.

The annual event is organized by the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA) in cooperation with the Taiwan Gift & Houseware Exporters Association, Taiwan Association of Stationery Industries, and Taipei Artcrafts & Gifts Association.



Statistics compiled by CETRA show that this year's event attracted 5,676 visitors, a 79% decline from last year. A total of 741 foreign buyers from 58 nations attended, including 176 from Japan (23.75% of the foreign buyers) and 135 from the United States (18.22%). The number of local buyers decreased 54% this year, to 4,935 people.

Exhibitor numbers were also down to 578, a 32% decrease. The number of booths fell by a similar percentage to 1,107. There were 334 exhibitors of gifts/houseware and 19 stationery exhibitors, including exhibitors from the U.S., South Korea, Thailand, India and Poland.


Techie Touch


The new Electronic Stationery zone provided a venue for makers to demonstrate products integrating the island's strong information-technology capability. Many innovative items were shown at the new zone, including optical-disc cleaning kits, mouse-cleaner kits, computer mice, optical-disc sorting and storage boxes, sticker-making machines, personal digital assistant (PDA)-use four-in-one pens, waterproof-film paper, aftermarket ink cartridges, optical mice, scratch- and squint-proof PDA-screen protectors, innovative mouse pads, cable sorters, notebook-PC anti-theft devices, digital-camera lens-guards, memory-card cases, gel mouse pads, monitor risers, and copy holders.



A Japanese buyer reported at the show that office-computer peripherals will be a mainstay of the gift and stationery industry in the future, leading more and more companies to develop such products.

Another special zone opened by CETRA at this year's show, the Inno-Products Gallery, highlighted 34 innovative items. Products demonstrated at the zone included magnetic bookmarks, easy-use multifunctional brewing/filtering sets for tea, coffee, herbs, etc., 3-in-1 wine stoppers that function as a wine thermometer and cork holder, mini optical mice, glass electronic body-fat scales and many other items that underscore the strong innovation and design capabilities of local manufacturers.

Rafe Hammett, a New Zealand buyer, said at the show that he was less worried about SARS than about traveling here only to find a lack of quality and new made-in-Taiwan products. He comes to Giftionery Taipei every year to find new items for distributors back home. Another foreign buyer, Michael Wu of the U.S., who flies to Taiwan about six times a year on business, said that Taiwan is still the dominant supplier of stationery and gift products, accounting for over 90% of the global market through their plants in Taiwan and overseas.



Every facet of the trade is on display at this event with everything from acrylic products, artist supplies, bags, general stationery, glassware, handicrafts, premium items, promotional items, religious items, calculators, calendars, ceramics, houseware, key chains, kitchenware, school stationery, souvenirs, specialty giftware, clocks & timers, crystal items, festival decorations, licensed products, office stationery, paper articles, sunglasses, tableware, and woodenware. Such product comprehensiveness, according to CETRA, makes Giftionery a one-stop shopping center for global buyers.


From Pencils to PDA Pens


Taiwan's stationery industry began modestly with a few pencil factories in the pre-war period. After 1945, small family-style factories began producing chalk, crayons and ink. The industry began to flourish in the 1950s with the large-scale production of carbon paper, wax paper, ballpoint pens, pencils, crayons, watercolors, ink and printing ink. And since the 1960s, the local industry has become an increasingly dominant presence in export markets.



To remain competitive, local producers are constantly introducing new techniques from abroad and strengthening R&D at home. They are also devoting more attention to the development of own-brand products.

Through quality and design innovations, the local industry has been able to grow despite strong competition from mainland China, South Korea and other Southeast Asia nations.

The export value of Taiwan stationery products in 2001 amounted to US$550 million, while exports in the first half of 2002 totaled US$ 225 million. The major export markets for the local industry are, in descending order, the US, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, and the UK.


Gifted at Giftware


Giftware is one of the key traditional industries in Taiwan. Though local producers have been moving to mainland China and other Southeast Asia nations for the production of low-price, big-volume items, those that make higher-added-value products in small batch runs have remained in Taiwan.

Taiwan's giftware suppliers possess superior production-technology prowess, offer expedient and on-time tooling, and have close ties with their foreign clients. As a result, many foreign buyers now turn to Taiwanese companies to make their giftware and household items.

Local makers have been beefing up their technological capacity to come up with new takes on old products, such as photo frames, body-fat gauges and pedometers with voice-recording capability, animal-shaped signal flashers on cellphones, and LED pens and key chains with music and flashing lights. Many suppliers have won awards in Taiwan and overseas for their innovative, multifunctional designs and clever choice of materials.



Despite efforts to establish their own brands by some big makers, local giftware makers are generally small and medium businesses who mainly invest in production capacities rather than devoting limited resources in marketing their corporate identity. Hence most local makers still focus on original equipment/design manufacturing (OEM/ODM) orders.

The export value of Taiwan-made giftware and ornaments in the January-October 2002 period was US$141 million. Christmas ornaments, the biggest export category, registered at US$60 million during the period. Base-metal carvings and ornaments came in second, while wooden carvings ranked third. The export value of artificial flowers posted a minor gain during the period.

The U.S. was still the largest destination for Taiwan's exported ornaments, accounting for 54% of the total, followed by Hong Kong, Japan, the U.K. and Canada.

The export value of household items during the said period totaled US$670 million, with steel kitchen and household items accounting for the biggest part (US$318 million). Plastic tableware, kitchen and bathroom items formed the second biggest category at US$298 million.

The U.S. was the biggest buyer of Taiwan-made household items, accounting for US$312 million, or 47%, of the export total in the first ten months of 2002. Japan, the U.K. Germany and Hong Kong were the next largest buyers.