Prospects Soar as Buyers Increase +28.6% at Robot Taiwan & 2008 MT Duo

TAIPEI, Taiwan--(Business Wire)--
MT Duo (The 8th Taipei CNC Machine Tool & Mfg Technology Show) and
the first-ever ROBOT Taiwan (Taiwan Int'l Robot Exhibition) organized
TAITRA (the Taiwan External Trade Development Council) and TAMI (the
Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry) wrapped up with success on
May 5 after running five busy days from May 1st.

Both the scale of MT Duo and the number of buyers set historical
highs during its five days which saw booth occupancy grow by 11%
compared to the previous show. Meanwhile, the premiere ROBOT Taiwan
hosted 289 exhibitors to use 940 booths.

Total buyers for abroad at these two shows reached 908, a 28.6 %
increase over the previous year. Better still, the number of local
buyers soared to 11,329-- a 51.5% increase over the previous year.
During the show days Exhibitors were kept busy during show days
handling steady stream of International buyers from every facet of the
trade.

JAPAN ICHIBAN!

By nation/buyer turn-out the largest buyer country was Japan,
which sent 147 buyers, with large delegations from such famous
manufacturers such as SANWA SEIKI and TAISEI DENKI.

Buy nation/proportional turn-out the top 5 nations represented
were: Japan (16.54%), U.S.A. (8.89%), South Korea (7.87%), China
(5.29%), and the Philippines (4.61%).

This year's MT Duo got top marks in such theme areas as Design
Engineering, CNC Machine Tools & Precision Mold Making, Outsourcing &
Subcontracting, Component, and Appliance & Materials.

Covering all the bases!

With upper, middle, and lower streams manufacturers joined under
one roof this event exhibited a comprehensive selection of products.
As a result many buyers used this venue as their one-stop procurement
hub where they could quickly obtain the information they required.

A full line up of domestic manufacturers build the success of this
show with such key firms as C-Double Enterprise Co., Ltd, that
showcased its Hyper Gear series which is exclusively used for pipes in
architecture and construction. C-Double used this show to debut their
products across Taiwan. Since they greatly cut construction time and
costs, the product caught the eye of many buyers.

Leading the line-up of international manufacturers was Marposs,
the Italian precision machinery manufacturer who was participating the
show for the first time. They exhibited many sets of precision metal
parts test equipment, compressors, air-conditioners, and bearings, all
of which were highly reviewed by the buyers.

The German giant DMG, meanwhile, displayed its high-tech control
system ECO series capable of 3D simulation. Its high flexibility, high
quality and reasonable price attracted much attention. Many buyers
have placed orders at the show with DMG including QSControl Corp. and
Sierui. They noted that during the first two days of the show alone,
more than a hundred domestic and international buyers placed inquiries
about their products.

Many international buyers indicated this year that MT Duo had a
far greater range of display products which met their diverse
procurement needs, particularly in CNC machine tools which truly are
characteristics of products on the Asian market. As a result this
event has been recognized by buyers around the world to be a trading
platform not to be missed.

A long-term partner of Taiwanese manufacturers, Mr. Qasin Ali from
Pakistan is a loyal customer of Taiwanese CNC machine tool products.
He indicates that the quality of products in Taiwan's precision
industry is compatible with European and Japanese products yet notes
that the prices of Taiwanese products are much more attractive than
European and Japanese prices.

Mr. Jiwan Maheshwari from India praised Taiwanese machine tool
products as offering better value for money and for the functionality
and variety of products exhibited at the show. He also indicated that
he was thinking about placing orders with the exhibiting manufacturers
to buy their sheet metal processing machine tools and planer-type
machining centers. Mr. David Valerio from Dominican Republic placed
two orders on the first day of the show. He recognizes the excellence
of Taiwanese products at MT Duo.

"Although the scale of the show was relatively small compared to
its counterparts in Europe and America, products at MT Duo were more
focused," states Valerio. "I will definitely come for the show again
next time."

ROBOT Taiwan, the first international robot show in Taiwan,
offered a showcase on mechanical arms, industrial and service robots
as well as robotic parts & accessories, and peripheral products.
Though the scale of the show was small and refined, it linked
well-known domestic and international manufacturers like Mitsubishi
Corporation (Taiwan), Cherng Yuh Machinery, E-Con Automation, ABB,
Staubli, OTC, FANUC, Maxon Motor, THK, Tokyo University of Agriculture
and Technology, Japan Robot Association, and Micro-Star International.

This event displayed some of the best stuff on robots including
mechanical arms and their peripheral products. It was here where THK,
the Japanese giant, showcased its small LM guide rail equipped with a
ball retainer as well as low-noise-level high-speed ball screw with
free long-term service and maintenance.

Staubli, a hundred-year-old Swiss manufacturer, also displayed its
beautiful and delicate mechanical arms. The outstanding motor, speed
reducer and cable are built inside the main structure, allowing its
products to win show-wide attention.

In terms of service robots, the educational robot sets introduced
by Intelligent Data Miner Inc., dealer of the famous Micro-Star
International in our nation, also caught everyone's attention. Besides
supplying the National Taiwan University, National Chiao Tung
University, National Tsing Hua University for R&D experiments, the
company also proactively invests in the educational robotics market,
producing robots that inspire imagination and learning.

Robots and robotic dogs also made their debut at this show. The
Intelligent Disaster Control Robot developed by Chung-Shan Institute
of Science and Technology appeared for the first time. It is capable
of removing unexploded bombs, detecting dangerous areas, riot control
and assist fighting fires.

Though each unit is costs approximately NT$5 million, it's still
40% cheaper than a similar disaster control robots offered in other
countries. Mr. J Biglou P. Eng. From Iran was one of those impressed
by our robotic products. He stated that though this was the first time
Taiwan to hold a robot show, its products reflected the ability of
Taiwan to integrate mechanics and engineering.

All seats were packed at the robotics seminar. It was here where
Mr. Jesse Chen, Manager of Research Center of Micro-Star International
Co., Ltd. and Mr. Tokuo Iikura, Executive Director of the Japan Robot
Association spoke on the status of the robotics industry in Japan and
Taiwan. Besides explaining the importance of robots in the process of
production and manufacturing, Mr. Tokuo Iikura also emphasized the key
role of government in the development of the robotics industry.

Dr. Charlotte Brogren, Vice President of ABB and Dr. Shinsuke
Sakakibara, Honorary General Manager of Basic Research Lab., FANUC
spoke on global service robotics market. Participants explored the
precision sensor system and low oil consumption/energy saving R&D
points for future industrial robots. Mr. Hajime Aoyama, General
Manager of Clean Robot Department, Fuji Heavy Industry, and Mr. Yuji
Hosoda, Chief Research of Mechanical Engineering Research Lab.,
Hitachi Ltd., on the other hand, explained the importance of cleaning
robots on the global service robotics market and future development
opportunities.

Although this was the first such forum, it attracted a lot of
domestic and international industrial professionals and
representatives from the academia. Each round had more than 150
participants who really got involved.

International buyers noted the continuous devotion of the
Taiwanese CNC machine tools and robotics industries to develop new
products and reflected positively on the showground services.

Don't miss the next MT Duo and ROBOT Taiwan which are coming next
May to TWTC Exhibition Hall 1.

For information on this show, please visit the following websites

www.mtduo.com.tw/

www.robotaiwan.com/

TAITRA
Ms. Olivier Yang, 886-2-2725-5200 Ext. 2876
Exhibition Department
Fax: 886-2-2729-1191
olivier@taitra.org.tw

Copyright Business Wire 2008