When TIMTOS 2011 opens at the twin venues of TWTC and Nangang Exhibition Center, it will be Asia's second biggest machine tools show.

The 2011 Taipei International Machine Tool Show (TIMTOS 2011) will take place at TWTC Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC) Exhibitions Hall 1, 2, 3 and the Nangang Exhibition Center from March 1 to 6, 2011. The biennial exhibition has already become a focus for international buyers, and the upcoming 15th TIMTOS is sure to be a prominent international event in the industry. The machine tool industry forms a crucial element in Taiwan's machinery industry; in addition, Taiwan is currently the world's 4th largest manufacturer of machine tool. This year's exhibition is centered on the procurement of top-quality "Made in Taiwan" machine tools and total solutions for machine industry.

After the successful turnout in 2009 and to stimulate more inspiration under the economic crisis worldwide, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), one of the two joint organizers of the event, determined to contribute more efforts for continuing the glory of TIMTOS in 2011. The event now provides a vertically-integrated window on the top industry players and offers buyers unparalleled convenience. The event is estimated to provide spaces and opportunities for over 919 exhibitors, 5,138 booths and 47,000 visitors (5,000 international), so further interaction and exploration can be achieved through the period of March 1-6, 2011.

According to TAITRA President and CEO, Yuen-Chuan Chao, exhibition space for the huge show filled up in just a week. A total of 185 international exhibitors will come from countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Finland, the US, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, Malaysia, China, and Hong Kong.

The show will also feature many Taiwan exhibitors, including such manufacturers as Shieh Yih Machinery Industry Co Ltd, Wele Mechatronic Co Ltd, Ching Hung Machinery & Electric Industries Co Ltd, Victor Taichung Machinery Works Co Ltd, Soco Machinery Co Ltd, Keyarrow Co Ltd, Dahlih Machinery Industry Co Ltd, Tailift Co Ltd, and Yeong Chin Machinery Industries Co Ltd.

Speaking about the Taiwanese machine tool industry, David Chaung, Machine Tool Committee Vice Chairman at the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI), the other organiser of TIMTOS, says the total export value of the Taiwan machine tool industry from January to September 2010 hit US $ 2.3 billion, an increase of 57.7% compared with the same period in 2009. Continues Chuang, "Without a doubt, the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China is this year's big headline for the machine-tool industry." Improved relations with China have no doubt helped trade with Taiwan. The import tariff of machine tools to China is between 5% and 15%. The ECFA this year selected 17 machine tool items for which duty will be eliminated.

The agreement will also eliminate all custom duty within three years. "This should accelerate business exchange across the Formosa Strait and help companies lower their costs and boost international competitiveness," he says. "There is a great demand in mainline China for smaller and cheaper tools."

Taiwan has become the world's 4th largest source of machine tools, behind Germany, Japan, and Italy. How can a small island achieve what the big mechanically advanced countries achieve? Taiwan's machine tool industry has a history of about 60 years. Through unceasing R&D, it draws on high technology to increase the functionality and precision of products. Taiwanese officials contend its machine tools are closing the technology gap with respect to those from Japan and Germany. The competitive edge: the price to performance ratio. Interestingly, for horizontal machines, Taiwan's biggest competitors are Japan and Germany. But for vertical machines, the biggest competitors are within Taiwan itself. The country is poised to be a bigger global player as its manufacturing capabilities become increasingly sophisticated. In its eyes, areas ripe for exporting machine tools are countries such as China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Turkey. And as prices rise in Japan and China, Taiwan expects to sell more machine components in those countries.

The 2010 survey of Taiwan machine tools industry shows that production value will grow up with business conditions on the export and home market. The production value for the first 9 months of 2010 was US$ 2.9 billion, an increase of 57.7% compared with the same period in 2009. Production value of CNC machine tools grew up 50% amounting to US$ 2.2 billion. Taiwan also imported more machine tools during this period, amounting to US$ 540 million, an increase of a phenomenal 99.6% compared with the same period in 2009, which was no doubt a bad year due to global recession.

TIMTOS thus offers a good opportunity for Indian machine tool industry to showcase its achievements among the global peers.

For visitors too, this is an opportunity to check the latest developments from the global machine tools industry in general, that of Taiwan in particular. For the record, India is the third largest market for exports of machine tools from Taiwan, just behind China (+Hong Kong) and the US.

(The complete list, hall and segment-wise, of all exhibitors is available on the TIMTOS website: http://www.timtos .com.tw Photographs used are from the 2009 edition)