An exposition in Taipei will showcase Switzerland and Taiwan’s cutting-edge machine tools and highlight their roles in the industry

The biennial Taipei Manufacturing Technology Show (MT duo), which opens tomorrow, will have a stronger Swiss presence than ever.

This is because the European country sees Taiwan as a trading partner with a lot of potential, the Swiss office in Taiwan said yesterday.

A Swiss pavilion, the only national pavilion of the show, will be set up for the first time and feature more than 10 major Swiss machine tool makers, according to the Trade Office of Swiss Industries.

“The prominent Swiss machine tool presence at the MT duo indicates the importance and the vitality of this industry,” the office said in a statement.

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see the latest in Swiss machine tools and tooling used in a wide spectrum of industrial applications, it said.

Citing the Machine Tool Output & Consumption Survey last year, the office said that Taiwan and Switzerland occupied prominent positions in the global machine tool business.

Taiwan was the world’s fourth-largest exporter of machine tools last year, with machine tool export value reaching US$4 billion, while Switzerland had machine tool exports of more than US$2.9 billion, ranking fifth in the world, the survey showed.

Sunny Sheu, the Swiss office’s marketing manager, said Switzerland sees Taiwan, one of its main global clients, as a key base in its machine tool industry.

According to government data, Switzerland was Taiwan’s second-largest supplier of machine tools last year after Japan, with sales of US$71.12 million, up 51.4 percent from 2010, and accounting for 8.6 percent of Taiwan’s total machine tool imports.

A total of 300 local and foreign exhibitors, including foreign companies such as DMG Mori Seiki, Mazak and Yamazaki, have registered to exhibit at the show, according to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, which is organizing the show.

The show will take place from tomorrow until Sunday at the Taipei World Trade Center’s Nangang Exhibition Hall.