The Taiwanese machine tool market will focus on emerging markets, though the UAE and Saudi Arabia will only make up a modest part of this strategy, according to a panel of experts at an industry trade fair.
Speaking about ways to survive the economic crisis, Alan Lu, chairman of the Taiwanese Association of Machinery Industry (Tami), said that GCC countries offered an opportunity, if only a modest one at present.
“There is a market in Dubai still – particularly to the oil and gas sector,” he said, adding that there was also a strong opportunity to sell to Iran, but current trade restrictions made this difficult.
However, he pointed out that other emerging markets offered more scope at the present time. According to Lu, these included Brazil, South Africa and various CIS states.
He was speaking at the Timtos tool show, currently being held in Taipei.
The show was opened on Monday morning by the president of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou, who noted that while the island was badly affected by the downturn, which he described as an ‘economic tsunami’, it was better placed than other markets like Malaysia and South Korea, due in part to a recent devaluing of the New Taiwanese dollar.
Machine tools include lathes, roll-formers and multi-axis ‘machining centres’.
In the regional construction market there are many firms able to produce bespoke components for heavy equipment using lathes and machining centres, while formwork and structural joists are produced using roll-formers.
Several Taiwanese companies making this equipment are available in the GCC region, including Hartford, the island’s largest, who are represented at a Sharjah-based dealership.
General manager Steven Yeh Said: “We look forward to much more business with the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the future.”