Major Events of the Department of Economic Development,
Taipei City Government in 2020
| January |
| 1st | Taipei City Office of Commerce made the pioneering move of setting up an electronic business location preview platform, allowing the public to search online and obtain information in advance on whether selected business locations comply with the city’s urban planning and building regulations. On average, the platform received 5,510 inquiries per month. |
| April |
| 27th | The Department of Economic Development of Taipei City Government organized the 2020 Calla Lily and Hydrangea Festival. Using “Calla lily, hydrangea, and Zhuzihu” as the main theme, various farms and landscapes depicted the romantic atmosphere of calla lilies in the spring and the colorful vitality of hydrangeas in the early summer. The Zhuzihu Leisure Farm Area turned into a must-visit scenic spot and was widely praised by visitors. The festival drew around half million visitors, and the flowers and other agricultural products sold during the festival amounted to NT$12.46 million. Meanwhile, the leisure and dining businesses also took in around NT$90 million. As of Jun. 21, the total revenue achieved NT$102.46 million. |
| May |
| 22nd | The Department of Economic Development of Taipei City Government made the pioneering move of creating the Taipei Cross-Bordere Commerce Service Center, which offers one-stop services meeting the different levels of need of Taipei City enterprises by offering counseling through a variety of channels—including over the telephone and on the Internet, arranging professionals to provide weekly guidance, and organizing various business courses, thereby helping enterprises resolve the operational problems of their cross-border ecommerce platforms. |
| July |
| 1st | Taipei City Office of Market started to enforce“transaction after identity verification” across the board. The regulation was first initiated in 2019 to enhance food safety and implement food safety policies, and entailed that all suppliers entering a wholesale market to make transactions were required to provide their identity information. Before transactions took place, any supplier that failed to pass drug tests for their products would have their produce confiscated and destroyed so as to ensure that such products did not reach the retail end and that the source of supply could be tracked down immediately; additionally, farmers were requested to use chemicals carefully. After over a year of promotion and data building, the policy was fully enforced in 2020 so that suppliers failing to provide their identity information were not allowed to put their products up for auction or make transactions.
|
| 25th | Taipei City Office of Market conducted the official opening ceremony of Taipei City Public Huannan First-phase Relay Market. The city began to plan the reconstruction of Huannan Market in 1999 and the effort continued across four successive mayors. After 18 years of preparation and promotion, the project was finalized at last under Mayor Ko Wen-je. More than one hundred presentations and coordination meetings were held to consult and communicate with self-governance associations, representatives of different business, and vendors. Subsequently, the Phase 1 reconstruction of the market lasted about three years and was finally completed in 2020. When operations started in February, one thousand vendors gathered to celebrate the opening of their new shops. Mayor Ko Wen-je also personally visited the market to interact with the vendors and wish them success with their businesses. |
| August |
| 14th | The Nangang Bottle Cap Factory Restoration Project of the Department of Economic Development of Taipei City Government won the Taipei City Distinguished Public Construction Award. The restoration project included six historical buildings and one building to be preserved, in addition to the outdoor surroundings of the park. The Department of Economic Development overcame problems associated with structural enhancement and waterproofing during the process of restoring the historical buildings and preserving the original structural systems, which combined with outstanding engineering quality and management, allowed the project to win the Taipei City Distinguished Public Construction Excellence Award. The award was established in 2012, and the Department of Economic Development has been the only non-engineering unit to win the top honor in the construction category. |
| September |
| 11th | The Department of Economic Development of Taipei City Government organized the International Forum on 2020 Taipei Sustainable Future as well as released the Energy Taipei and Circular Taipei 2.0 White Paper and invited lecturers from in and outside the country to share energy policy and circular city achievements and experiences in the hopes of learning from such achievements and acquiring various opinions through the forum. The attendees included Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je, Commissioner Lin Chung-chieh of the Department of Economic Development, British Office Taipei Representative Catherine Nettleton, Netherlands Office Taipei Representative Guido Jules Leopold Tielman, Australian Office Taipei Representative Cary Cowan, German Institute Taipei Deputy Director Nora Tech, ITRI Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories Director Wang Ren-chain, and representatives from related industries, private groups, and academic and research circles, as well as private citizens. There were more than 200 guests in total. |
| October |
| 16th | Taipei City Office of Commerce organized the Shopping Life in Taipei Festival. Under the theme of a “Business District Craftsman Factory”, the venue was divided into Foodie Craftsman, House Craftsman and Style Craftsman exhibition zones. 21 business districts and 71 specialty stores were invited to participate in the exhibition to promote and market the specialties in Taipei City business districts. The festival lasted until Oct. 18. |
| 17th | Taipei City Animal Protection Office and the Wild Bird Society of Taipei organized the 2020 Taipei International Birdwatching Fair. Under the theme of A Wonderland for Birds, visitors were guided to walk into nature through the playing of obstacle-overcoming games, participating in guided tours, and visiting LOHAS bird markets, also enhancing their conservation awareness through the process. As of Oct. 18, there have been 6,735 visitors in total. |
| 23rd | The Department of Economic Development of Taipei City Government conducted the 2020 Taipei International Design Award Ceremony. It was the only international design competition in Taiwan certified by the World Design Organization (WDO), the International Council of Design (ico-D), and International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI) —the three major international design organizations. In 2020, 105 awards were given out, including the Taipei Mayor Award, and there were 91 winning designs altogether. The prizes totaled NT$3.89 million—NT$379 from the city government and NT$100,000 donated by enterprises. A total of 5,508 works from 72 countries participated in the competition, fully exhibiting to the public the design energy in Taipei and turning the city into a design exchange platform. |
| November |
17th
Industry and Commerce | The Department of Economic Development of Taipei City Government organized the 2020 Taipei International Startup Week under the theme of “Turning the Page to a New Generation—A Brand New Market Arrangement for Startups”. The activities included the StartUP@Taipei Global Linkage and Startup Taipei Demo Day on Nov. 17, Taipei Prominent Enterprise Award Ceremony on Nov. 19, Meet Taipei Innovative Startup Carnival from Nov. 18 to 21, and POP UP Asia from Nov. 19 to 22. The event fully presented the rich and diversified startup possibilities in Taipei City. |
23rd
Market | Taipei City Office of Market attended the Ceremony of 2020 Quality Fresh Markets and Stalls Star Awards of Ministry of Economic Affairs. Three markets in Taipei City were rated five-star markets and 18 stalls were rated five-star stalls. The number of five-star ratings ranked first in the country, effectively affirming the efforts of the City Government and vendors. |
27th
Technology Industry | The Taipei City Neihu Science Park Industrial Backup Facility Development BOT handled by the Department of Economic Development of Taipei City Government, the first BOT case in Taiwan that focuses on “an incubation center and it facilities”, was inaugurated on Nov. 27. As the largest incubation center in Taiwan, it has been named t.Hub, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute provided professional assistance for its operation by bringing in an innovative team and various innovative businesses specialized in new technologies, including artificial intelligence and artificial Internet of Things (AI+AiOT), Big Data, Cloud (services and computation), digital content and digital medicine (Digi+), and education (education and circular economy). The space arrangement included independent office spaces, maker spaces, coworking spaces, multifunction conference rooms for the exchange and release of creative ideas, and i-stage—an innovative venue for experiments, to meet the needs of innovative teams at different stages and provide complete support at each stage from pre-incubation to post-incubation for the purpose of further building t-Hub into a world-class innovative startup base. |
29th
Animal Protection | Taipei City Animal Protection Office and the Guandu Nature Park Management Office organized the Guandu Nature Park 20th Anniversary. Among the anniversary celebration activities, the “Guandu Treasure-hunting” obstacle-overcoming game incorporated ecological education in leisure and entertainment, allowing visitors to recognize the beauty of the Emerald of Taipei City and explore secret places in the city while sightseeing. |
| December |
5th
Technology Industry | Under the jurisdiction of the Department of Economic Development, POPUP TAIPEI is the first maker space base in Taiwan created from historical buildings and space provided by the City Government—in this case, Nangang Bottle Cap Factory provided by the Taipei City Government. The base was inaugurated on Dec. 5, and is set to form a cultural creative industry corridor with the Taipei Music Center per the Taipei City Government's Eastern District Gateway Project. |
24th
Industry and Commerce | The Department of Economic Development of Taipei City Government restored the Taipower Central Warehouse (AR-1) as ARK TPE@N24 for the purpose of creating a block chain innovation and startup base for drawing in the innovative ideas of start-up teams and attracting emerging technology businesses (such as block chain and artificial Internet of Things) to move in and develop their business. Inaugurated on Dec. 24, it is expected to become an important base in the Taipei City Government's Eastern District Gateway Project. |
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