I have just landed in the bustling and industrial city of Taipei to report on the first edition of Taiwan International Water Week (TIWW 2019), which will take place from Thursday to Saturday, and is organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).
As well as journalists and bloggers, TIWW has seduced 150 companies, including Aqua Care, Baijen, Easywell, EMEC Taiwan, Eonplus, GEMUE Taiwan, ITRI, Iwaki, Jin-Chong, Lan Shan, Li Jing Viscarb, Ming Kuan, Semiplastic, Swun Chyan, Swun Yuan Enterprises, Tiancom, Xiangsheng and Ye Sail, to come face to face in the striking Taipei World Trade Center to showcase their best-selling products, services and latest Digital Water solutions.
With a clear goal to become one of the top three water events in Asia in the upcoming years, as we learned by speaking to Lilyan Kao, Show Manager, and Kate Chen, PR Manager at TAITRA, last week, TIWW offers water professionals, government officials and leading experts a chance to converge and establish business and networking opportunities under one roof.
You might be asking yourselves how Taiwan International Water Week has managed such a big turn out in the first year, but the answer is simple: Taiwan is already a big player in the global water sector, especially when it comes to avant-garde solutions. With a combination of IoT and ICT strengths, the island excels in smart water technologies with annual exports of pumps, valves, pipes, meters and purifiers exceeding US$2 billion. Moreover, the investment in water infrastructure in the country is targeting smart water management and water reclamation, which will be supplying 10 per cent of all water resources in Taiwan by 2030.
Another reason why TAITRA has successfully persuaded so many businesses to attend this international show trade is that for the first time the Taiwanese government's highest water authority, the Water Resources Agency (WRC), is supporting this new trade show. During the three-day event, the Agency will be coordinating the “Water for Future” Summit. Scholars and industry leaders from the United States, Japan, the UK and many other places have been invited to speak and share their experiences in matters of smart water management and advanced water treatment, among other topics. Two of the main speakers will be Graham Duxbury, Chief Executive of Groundwork UK, and Professor Kala Vairavamoorthy, an internationally recognized water resource management expert.
