• By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporter

The Taipei Cycle show and the Taipei International Sporting Goods Show (TaiSPO) opened at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s Hall 1 and 2 yesterday, making the exhibitions the first to physically welcome visitors from around the world after Taiwan reopened its borders in October last year.

About 4,000 foreign visitors from more than 90 countries registered in advance to attend the joint fair, which is to include on-site events running through Saturday and digital shows continuing until April 7, the organizer said in a statement yesterday.

The Taipei Cycle and TaiSPO have attracted 1,023 companies, which showcase their products at 3,850 booths, making it the largest cycling and sports fitness industry event in Asia, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said in the statement.

The fair also boasts the highest-density business platform for the global high-end bicycle and sports fitness supply chain, TAITRA said, adding that it expects it to result in substantial business opportunities for local firms.

With the launch of several special exhibitions at which products are categorized by usage purpose, it is expected to assist foreign companies to conveniently source products that meet their requirements and the importing countries’ regulations, it added.

“Taiwan is an important center for the production and research and development of bicycles and fitness products. Last year, the output value of bicycles exceeded NT$200 billion [US$6.55 billion], a substantial increase of 23 percent from the previous year, and ranked second in the world,” President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said at the event’s opening ceremony.

Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times

In addition, Taiwan exported more than 1 million electric bicycles last year, Tsai said.

“Taiwan’s fitness equipment, sportswear, protective gear, ball equipment and other sporting goods are also internationally renowned, showing that Taiwan has become a reliable supply chain partner for the global sporting goods industry,” she added.

The annual bicycle industry fair features a variety of tires, seats, frames, lights, breaks, derailleurs, bicycles and electric bikes. Top brands in the industry, such as Merida Industry Co (美利達) and Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) as well as chain maker KMC (Kuei Meng) International Inc (桂盟國際), Japanese bicycle parts maker Shimano Inc and Chicago-based component supplier SRAM Corp, are among the participants this year, the organizer said.

Fitness equipment manufacturers Johnson Health Technology Co (喬山健康科技) and Dyaco International Inc (岱宇國際), two TaiSPO veterans, are also participating in this year’s event, TAITRA said.

However, many exhibitors are attending for the first time, with about 15 percent of firms at Taipei Cycle and 25 percent at TaiSPO being debutants, including leading rubber conveyor belts maker Hsin Yung Chien Co (鑫永銓) and power and thermal management solutions provider Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the organizer said.