The opening of the largest IKEA
in Taiwan and Hong Kong set a
new Taiwan IKEA record for
number of customers.

Mayor Jason Hu thinks
Taichung's economy is not
bad at all!

Is Taichung's economy bad?

Let the numbers tell the truth

Words by Taichung City Government
Translated by Angel Pu
Photos provided by IKEA

This writer is frequently asked one question: Is Taichung's economy bad?

I always believe that statistics offer the best answer.

On September 5, IKEA opened its first Taichung branch and, within the first hour, over 10,000 people crowded into the new store. Although it was a weekday, an estimated 30,000-plus customers ended up thronging to see the Swedish retailer's newest 36,000-square-meter branch--the largest IKEA in Taiwan and Hong Kong. In addition, Test Rite Retail (formerly B&Q in Taiwan) also opened its third Taichung store recently in the Fengyuan District, making it fairly obvious who they see their biggest competitor as.

Going all the way back to 2007, just prior to Costco's opening of its Taichung branch, the American wholesale store already had over 100,000 local memberships, a record high for pre-opening membership sales among Costco's 523 stores worldwide. On opening day, the total membership-fee income was over NT$100 million and total sales income exceeded NT$30 million. According to Costco Taiwan Country Manager Richard Chang, Taichung Costco's annual sales have exceeded NT$8 billion, making it the company's most profitable store in Taiwan, and there are plans to open a second Taichung store in Beitun district in 2017.

In addition, retailers Decathlon from France and Nitori from Japan have both targeted the spending power of Taichung consumers by opening stores in the city. One after another, these large international chains seem to agree: They have faith in Taichung!

According to a 2011 business census conducted by the Executive Yuan's Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, while Taiwan's overall economy has not been doing so well, Taichung alone has been growing in a rarely-seen situation.

A comparison with 2006 figures shows that Taichung has grown over the past five years, both in terms of the business owner numbers and industrial and commercial business employees. The number of Taichung industrial, commercial and service related companies has increased by 12,594 (8.15%), while the number of employees has increased by 105,959 (11.73%). Annual gross output has also increased 45.77%, from NT$2,115,204,000,000 to NT$3,083,230,000,000, marking the highest growth among Taiwan's five major cities.

Recently, Taichung was also recognized as the "most suitable city or county for starting a new business" in an online poll conducted by Global Views Monthly magazine. This shows that Taichung's business-friendly environment has created countless opportunities for business owners.

There are other facts that should not be ignored either. In the past, Taichung was generally not considered a major city/county for agricultural production. However, following the Taichung city-county merger, farming-related business in the former Taichung county area has grown rapidly, both in local and international sales. Comparing 2010 and 2011 statistics indicates that Taichung's agricultural product international and domestic sales grew by 64% and 63%, respectively, over a year. Best-selling agricultural products include mandarin oranges, lychees, golden needle mushrooms, flaming lilies and dancing doll orchids. Sales of sun cakes and pineapple cakes, already famous Taichung products, have also reached annual value of a NT$1 billion, or 33 times sales figures a dozen years ago. When this writer visited China a while back, Chinese that I met with immediately commented, "I know that Taichung's sun cakes are very famous!"

Taichung's five major new industries--green energy, bio-technology, cultural and creativity, tourism, health care and international distribution --have created a total production value of NT$246,441,000,000 and 128,936 job opportunities.

According to statistics provided by the Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the number of tourists visiting the city's 15 main tourism spots exceeded 16 million in 2012, representing 50.63% growth from 2011.

The future development of additional tourism spots along the coastline, Taichung Gateway, Taiwan Tower, Taichung Metropolitan Opera House, Calligraphy Greenway, Maple Valley Park, MRT system and cable car projects means that Taichung will undoubtedly attract a growing number of local and international tourists.

All of the above statistics describe Taichung as an ideal place for business and investment as this city continues to grow by leaps and bounds.

So do you still think Taichung's economy is bad?