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Facing a worldwide supply shortage of surgical masks during the global COVID-19 outbreak, the Taiwan government, fast collaborating with local industry technology research institutes as well as smart-machinery & automation sectors, will increase mask production to meet the demand domestically, and in the process turn Taiwan into the 2nd largest surgical mask producer in the world.

The collaboration with industry sectors has effectively reduced the production cycle of mask equipment from 2 months to 1 week and completed 60 production lines from six months to just one month, ready to produce 10 million pieces per day by the end of February to early March.

Taiwan plays a crucial role in global machine tool industry. Taiwan is the 7th largest machine tool maker, with 80% of products exported to 138 countries. The exported value stood at 3.06 billion U.S dollar in 2019, making Taiwan the 5th largest machine tool exporter in the world.

Taiwan’s machinery clusters are based in Taichung, with over 1,500 machine tool makers and 10,000 satellite firms nearby, enabling flexible production, specialties sharing, and short lead times. Such comprehensive and high-density clusters also made Taiwan’s machine tools industries highly competitive and customer-oriented, offering high quality products through efficient and cost-effective operations.

In recent years, a growing number of machinery manufacturers are making the leap to smart machinery production, utilizing a combination of automation technology, Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI).

TAITRA will hold SOURCING TAIWAN 2020- a sourcing event featuring quality suppliers of Machinery x Hand tool x Bicycle x Automotive electronics on July 15th (Wednesday) in Taichung where important industry clusters are based.

Our overseas branch offices will help you with any enquiries. For info on overseas branch offices: https://officeportal.taiwantrade.com/flash/big/unitList.jsp?lang=en_US

***As of today, Wednesday Feb 19, the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in a total of 75,272 confirmed cases reported worldwide. As of writing, a total of 23 confirmed cases were found in Taiwan, with 1 of the confirmed cases deceased, 2 cases fully recovered and released from hospital, and the remaining in a stable condition and on the way to a full recovery. The risk of infection to international travelers within Taiwan is considered low to minimal.

**The latest reports state that the number of total confirmed cases in China, including Hong Kong (62) and Macau (10), is 74,329, followed by a cruise ship currently in international conveyance (542), Singapore (81), Japan (74), Republic of Korea (46), Thailand (35), Taiwan (23), Malaysia (22), Germany (16), Vietnam (16), Australia (15), United States of American (15), France (12).