The 2013 Taipei International Machine Tool Show is expected to attract a record-high number of exhibitors and visitors from around the world, the organizers said recently.

The biennial exhibition, which will be held in March, has already attracted over 960 local and foreign exhibitors from 17 countries, occupying 5,300 booths, said the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), which is organizing the event.

The exhibition's scale makes it the second largest of its kind in Asia, said Reyming Tu, deputy executive director of TAITRA's exhibition department.

The event is expected to be attended by an estimated number of 45,500 visitors, including 5,500 foreign buyers from Taiwan's major machine tool export markets such as Indonesia, Turkey, Russia, India and Brazil, Tu said.

In order to accommodate the growing number of exhibitors and visitors registering for the show, Taipei World Trade Center Hall 1-3 and Nangang Exhibition Hall will all be in use, he added.

Taiwan was the world's fourth-largest exporter of machine tools in 2011, with machine tool exports reaching US$4 billion, according to government statistics.

At the 2011 Taipei Machine Tool Show, a total of 928 exhibitors participated, occupying 5,152 booths. Around 41,000 visitors attended the event.

The largest Asian machine tool exhibition is the International Machine Tool and Tools Exhibition in China, which drew 1,178 exhibitors and 60,218 visitors in 2010, according to that show's official website.