2016 TFTA Member Spring Gala & Golf Outing

New Management Team & New Service. Possible Overseas Tour.

by Tanya Shih, Fastener World

TFTA (Taiwan Fastener Trading Association) selected Windsor Hotel in Taichung as the venue for members’ spring gala this year. This is the first large scale social event for members after chairman Bill Chen and vice chairman Kimmy Chang took office. The event invited general manager Mr. Jammy C.M. Shaw, Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China, as well as Ms. Guei-Feng Ho^[1], vice chief editor of CommonWealth Magazine to deliver their talks. The event drew over 100 member companies from northern, central, and southern Taiwan occupying nearly 20 round tables! Chairman Bill expressed gratitude in his stage talk to the vice chairman for his support, to director-general Mr. Chong-Gwo Wu for his arrangement, and to all members for their participation. To liven the event, president Mr. Wen-jay Hwang of TFTA’s affiliated golf club held a golf outing a day before the spring gala, strengthening the fellowship of members through this event spanning from March 3 to 4.

However, on February 27 the European Commission astonished the members with its repeal on the anti-dumping tax on China’s carbon steel fasteners. Quite a number of members came to the event to discuss the actions to take after the repeal. In response to them, Mr. Bo-wen Lin, head of committee of the International Committee, reported on the industry fluctuation in each supply/demand country after 2009 when EU started to impose anti-dumping tax, and said that the EU could again re-initiate anti-dumping investigation to guard industry development. Regarding this case, Fastener World Magazine interviewed many supervisors and consultants on site for our readers to understand the course of this case and its future development. For a special coverage of this anti-dumping case, refer to “Special Feature: EU’s repeal of Anti-dumping tax on China” on page 164.

Other sessions hosted by Kern Hsiung Huang (the supervisor & the chairman of education committee) and Po Chun Yo (chairman of the service committee) closely connected to members’ interests will be held in June, Sep., and Dec. this year. In May they plan to organize a group to visit Vietnam and Cambodia. In June they will also plan a trip to Xinjiang after the closure of Fastener Expo Shanghai. More details and application form will be available soon and members are very welcome to participate. TFTA N. Taiwan Chapter has also planned a factory tour in April including a visit to National Chung Shan Institute of Science & Technology and a robotics factory. For any member interested in this visit, please contact the chief secretary of TFTA N. Taiwan Chapter Ms. Liu. 

Manager Chun Ming Hsiao mentioned in his speech that the global economy in recent years has stepped into a quite difficult and stagnant period. In this new mediocre era, currencies of emerging markets such as peso, rupiah, lirasi, rupee, and real all demonstrate strength and space to reach higher values and the power of emerging markets can be also observed in Taiwan’s main exporting destinations in the past decade. Taiwan is increasing its export to China, Hong Kong, and ASEAN countries. On the contrary, the export to Europe or the U.S. is declining. This is why China could dominate the establishment of Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and why the red supply chain could create many business opportunities via the Silk Road. Taiwan is very flexible in the global trade. Manager Hsiao reminded the audience of being well-prepared before they trade with emerging countries and advised that they should focus more on buyers’ credits, suitable markets for products, local interest rates, etc., in order to ensure financial security.

Note:

^[1] Contents about “Analyses of Situations in Southeast Asia and the world” are on p. 208