Made in Taiwan?

At Taipei's gift and stationery show, international buyers peruse the fruits of a changing manufacturing climate.

By Eliza Gallo -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 1/1/2001

Although the label "Made in Taiwan" is so familiar to most Americans as to be a cliché, the Taiwanese gift industry is actually undergoing an evolution, in which much of its manufacturing is shifting overseas to mainland China. This was very much an issue of concern at Giftionery Taipei 2000, the October installment of the biannual gift and stationery show organized by Taiwan's China External Trade Development Council (CETRA). Now not only does Taiwan have to navigate its uneasy political relationship with Communist China; it has to compete economically with China as well.

Taiwan vs. China

According to CETRA, the primary factors pushing the manufacturing of gifts, stationery, and decorative accessories offshore are labor shortages and high labor costs in Taiwan. Over the last several years, manufacturers have moved their production of labor-intensive goods to China and Southeast Asia. Unfortunately for the Taiwanese gift industry, this practice has led to the acquisition of manufacturing, marketing, and business skills by China and the emergence of a strong competitor for foreign business.

However, there are mitigating factors. As CETRA's Yuen Chuan Chao and Dorothy Ouyang pointed out, most of the Taiwanese gift companies that move their manufacturing to China choose to keep their headquarters and research and development divisions in Taiwan. This business model was in evidence at the Bee One Corporation during a tour for foreign journalists of the company's headquarters in the Shi-Chi suburb of Taipei. The collectibles and stationery company retains its research and development division and some automated manufacturing in the headquarters, but it has moved the production of its handmade die-cast miniatures and housewares to China because of the lower labor costs there.

This business model has meant that Taiwan maintains an advantage when it comes to product design, and prevailing opinion is that Taiwan will compete with China by playing to that strength and by emphasizing product quality.

An International Affair

This issue served more as a backdrop than an impediment to Giftionery Taipei 2000 and its participants. After all, this was a group that carried on in spite of a typhoon warning at the beginning of the show's late October run. (One CETRA staffer sanguinely recalled a Chinese saying: "Water brings money.") Roughly 5,200 buyers turned out for the convention, attracted by 1,946 booths occupying nearly 290,000 square feet of exhibition space in the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall. According to Chao and Ouyang, the show is so popular that there is a waiting list to exhibit. To accommodate the demand, the organizers are negotiating with the Taiwanese government to build a convention center twice as large as the current one. They have already bought land in a Taipei suburb, and hope to make the new building a reality in a few years.

The show, founded 27 years ago by CETRA, the Taipei Artcrafts & Gifts Association, the Taiwan Association of Stationery Industries, and the Taiwan Gift & Houseware Exporters Association, was originally geared exclusively toward the promotion of export business. That legacy lingers today in the form of a very strong international presence. A full 24 percent of the buyers at the show were from Europe, 16 percent hailed from North America, and 6 percent came from the Middle East. Strolling the aisles of the show, one encountered a surprising number of Germans and Australians. The top two countries contributing foreign buyers were Japan (21 percent) and the U.S. (13 percent).

Asian Style: East and West Editions

Regardless of the international attendance, most of the wares on display at Giftionery were geared noticeably to the tastes of consumers in the Asian region, and didn't seem likely to translate well to the U.S. market (which is currently mad for dark colors and natural materials like rattan and bamboo). The overriding design elements in Taipei were bright pastel colors, whimsical designs, and high-tech, industrial looks in plastic and metal. Surprisingly few exhibitors elected to capitalize on the recent Western taste for decorative accessories with overt Asian themes and images. But there were scattered offerings in this vein. At its booth, Art Tribe featured pillows, accessories, and tabletop pieces bearing elegant black-and-white images of blossoms in the style of Chinese painting. Pro-Advance International displayed journals and picture frames with repeating patterns of Chinese characters. And La Guardia Ents. showcased Chinese calligraphy and painting elements on white ceramic trays and appealing wooden picture frames.

The Giftionery show was a visibly healthy one, and, unlike some foreign shows, truly international rather than regional. Its exhibitors seemed to be skillfully navigating the challenges of their shifting manufacturing environment. This was nowhere more evident than in the sign prominently hung in one booth: "Taiwanese Quality, Chinese Price."

The next Giftionery Taipei will be held April 19-22, 2001.