Computex Criticised by BenQ Chairman
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The Chairman of BenQ has claimed that Taiwan will lose its place as home to the world’s second-largest information-technology (IT) fair, unless the organisers manage to improve both the expo’s infrastructure and the quality of its management.

“Taiwan is losing its position as the host of a leading international IT fair,” BenQ chairman Lee Kun Yao said on the sidelines of a press conference, ahead of the opening of the Computex computer show in Taipei this week.

The event, which runs through Saturday, features 1,288 exhibitors in 2,853 booths, compared with 1,347 exhibitors and 2,828 booths last year. Computex is expected to draw 27,500 overseas buyers this year, up from 26,222 foreign visitors last year, the organisers said.

“Quantity does not necessarily translate into quality,” Lee said. He said that the exhibition hall’s facilities and the trade show’s management, as well as the traffic arrangements, all need to be improved.

As the nation’s heavyweight contract manufacturers have already established close ties with the world’s leading IT vendors, Computex is likely to benefit only smaller original design manufacturers (ODMs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Lee said.

As a brand name company that has grown strong through collaboration with overseas distributors, BenQ is participating in Computex just to build up its brand image and maintain a presence; it does not expect to secure major new orders at the show, Lee said. In response, TAITRA said that it is aware of the problems created by the limited exhibition space and the fact that the infrastructure is in need of refurbishment.

“We are sorry [about the complaints] … but there is nothing we can do about the facilities for the moment,” Frank Huang the executive director of TAITRA’s exhibition department, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

The yet-to-be-completed Nankang Exhibition Hall in Taipei will provide space for 2,650 booths, and would offer a solution to the problem, Huang said.