The 16th edition of GTI Expo, GTI Asia Taipei Expo 2009, took place on May 7~9, at B&C Zones, Hall 1, Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei, Taiwan.  There were more than one hundred companies and around 650 booths.  The displayed products at the expo had better quality, creativity, and playability than ever, drawing a lot of attention from around the world.  The three day expo attracted more than 4,000 buyers from over 40 countries.  Under the terrible economic circumstances, GTI Taipei not only kept its scale, but the expo contents were also highly approved by the exhibitors and buyers. 
By Jim Ke/ Matthew Yau
 
Growing against the trend, breaking through the bad economy

GTI Asia Taipei Expo 2009, one of the most important gaming industry events both in the Asia-Pacific region and in the global business environment, was hosted by GTI Magazine, taking place on May 7~9, at B&C Zones, Hall 1, Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei, Taiwan.  Affected by the down-sliding world economy, the exhibiting booths were fewer than before, decreasing to only 650 booths.  However, there were still more than 100 exhibiting companies and media from 9 countries participating.  Other than the largest line up of Taiwanese exhibitors, there was also a huge amount of foreign exhibitors, including Japanese NAMCO BANDAI, KNT, and Nippo Tusho, Korean JJ Union and Dong Seo University AGRIC, Chinese Zhongshan Golden Dragon, Zhongshan Luck, Zhongshan G-Look, and Game Art, Italian QubicaAMF, and American MEI.  The first time exhibitors were Chen Mao, Casino College Taiwan, Hong Yen, Hypaa, Landmark, Hua-Yuan, FutureLogic Asia, JJ Union, Dong Seo University AGRIC, and All In Entertainment Limited.          
There were over 800 foreign visitors from more than 43 countries and areas, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Tahiti, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, and Viet Nam.  The total number of visitors reached 4,060, more than in previous years.

Currently, Taiwan is facing a more devastating situation than The Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, The Internet Bubble in 2000, and SARS in 2003.  Since the fourth quarter of 2008, the number of Taiwan export orders has decreased significantly, and the terrible performance on imports/ exports has been clearly reflected in various statistics.  Seven months of Economy Blue Light and Customs Import-Export Statistics have shown that the Economic Growth Rate has gone down every month this half year.   

The H1N1 influenza outbreak from Mexico has caused panic around the world too.  Facing these continuous obstacles, GTI Expo seemed to be in the worst situation ever.  However, with 16 years of expo hosting experience and its accumulated international business relationships, GTI managed to attract even more visitors this year.  Even though the exhibiting booths were fewer than before, the visitor number was the highest in GTI’s record.  Comparing to the previous G2E (Nov. 2008 in USA) and ATEI (Jan. 2009 in UK), at which the visitors were all fewer than before, GTI held its position as a strong and growing expo, continuing to become more effective and important in the global gaming/ amusement industry chain.  

Grand Opening and Product Presentation

At ten o’clock in the morning, on May 7, the first day of the expo, many special and important guests joined the opening ceremony of GTI Asia Taipei Expo 2009, including Legislator Lin Yu-Fang, Deputy Director-general of Bureau of Foreign Trade, Chiang Shih-Huang, Bureau of Standards, Metrology & Inspection 3rd Department Director, Lin Chuan-Wei, Nevada State Office on Economic Development Representative, Charlyne Chen, Entertainment Center Development Association President, Li Xiang, and Gift Clain Vender Association President, Bin Bin Wei.

Hoping to create sales success, all the companies pulled out their latest and best products at the expo, presenting their R&D achievements to the buyers and attracting more attention.  The various game tournaments Kingtronic, Saint-Fun, and IGS held gathered lots of people to join in.  Another focused event at the expo was the latest Chinese version of the Japanese most popular game, Sangokushi Taisen.  It was the joint effort of SEGA, IGS, and Wahlap Technology.  Taiwan SEGA Assistant Manager, Lin Hong Tao said, “Sangokushi Taisen will be translated into simplified Chinese for the Mainland China Market.  The in-game wording and voice dub will be adjusted to fit into the Chinese Market.”  To announce this exciting news, IGS held a big product launching ceremony at its booth on May 8th.  SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS President CEO, Hajime Satomi, IGS President, Li Ke Zhu, and Wahlap Technology President, Su Ben Li, all arrived GTI expo to join the project launching ceremony.  There were also trial machines and game cards at the booth.

Playful and Fun Expo

At GTI Expo, Kingtronic hosted a series of exhibition matches for its new music video game “TECHNIKA,” which interested many visitors.  In Taiwan, music video games have become very popular since last year.  Therefore, trying to keep this trend up, Kingtronic presented TECHNIKA, the latest product from Korean manufacturer, ENTAVISION, to the public.  Abandoning the traditional button style controls, TECHNIKA revolutionarily applied the touch screen to the game play.  Players only need to touch the screen to operate the game.  There were easy, simple, difficult, and online, four modes to choose from.  It also came with a 32” LCD monitor, LIVE showcasing the players’ game plays.  Speaking of music video games, the hottest “We Dancing Online” by IGS was also the player’s favorite.  The series has been on both online platform and street/ arcade markets and well favored by all ages of players.  Therefore, IGS invited the top players in Taiwan to join the tournament on the last day.  These winners from various tournaments gave out some exciting matches at the expo.

Other than We Dancing Online, EZ NET at the IGS booth was also one of its most popular products.  With its plentiful features and various games, EZ NET has gathered more than 700,000 players around the world, and the number is still increasing.  The “Landlord Fights” in EZ NET was especially popular in China, and, through three years of advertisement, Taiwan players have also fallen in love with “Landlord Fights.”  Therefore, IGS held “Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau Landlord Fights Tournament” at GTI Expo for its fans.  It was the 3rd year of this tournament.  IGS took a lot of effort to make sure the whole tournament was fair and smoothly progressing.

There was also the fourth “Saint-Fun Street Basketball China Cup.”  Four years of promotions have made Street Basketball a huge trend.  Players came to register early in the morning, and Saint-Fun also let the participants to draw prizes, attracting more people to join in the match.  Moreover, ESPN live broadcasted the match, showing the importance of the China Cup.  The male and female champions will be representing Taiwan and travel to China for the finals.  There will be 250 players from around every corner in the world to fight for the 500,000 NTD prize.  The host will offer them plane tickets and meals.  
Not only the activities at the expo were entertaining and joyful, there were also some fun and pleasing special parties being held during the three days of the expo, such as Jumbo Technology one.  Absent for three years, Jumbo Technology finally came back to GTI Expo this year.  It held “Jumbo Technology Jazz Party” at Fullon Hotel in the evening on the second day of the expo.  There were a lot of significant guests at the party, including Asian GEM & Tourism Foundation, Inc. President, Celine Clemente, Nevada State Office on Economic Development Representative, Charlyne Chen, GTI Magazine President, Thomas Liu, and many more.  The atmosphere at the party was pleasant.  Jumbo Technology President Jasbir Hsu and Vice President Simon Lai received every guest personally, offering every guest the top enjoyment.  GTI also held a dinner party at Taipei City Hall Banquet Salle.  There were 80 desks for more than 800 exhibiting companies’ participants and operators to feast together.  Through GTI Expo, people in the industry had chance to communicate and know each other.  It was the best chance to build up commercial co-operations.  

Complete Product Line-up

GTI Asia Taipei Expo 2009 was filled with various types of products, ranging from slot machines, coin pushers, Mario slots, pinball machines, bingo drawing machines, gift machines, boxing machines, crane machines, basketball machines, redemption machines, simulation machines, and kiddie rides, to accessories, components, IPC, coin counters, bill acceptors, coin rejectors, card dispensers, and cabinets.  From parts to products, buyers could fulfill all their needs at the expo. 

Many companies displayed the latest products which were not yet released in the market at GTI Expo, such as the new generation of pinball machines, music game machines, and simulators.  The external designs, visual and audio effects, entertainment creativities, and applied technologies of these machines were all hugely upgraded, showing the manufacturers’ determinations to breakthrough the down-sliding economy.  It also proved that GTI Expo was regarded the best platform for companies to announce their newest products.  With ten years of GTI experiences, Israeli operator Meir Buhbut applauded GTI Expo, “I have found the needed products every year.  I will definitely come back next year.” 

Starting from 2007 in the US, the Subprime Crisis has worsened the economy greater than ever before in history.  As strong a gaming community as Las Vegas has been, it was inevitably stricken hard by the economic crisis.  The revenues of Wynn Group, MGM, and Golden Sand have all gone down.  As a result, the exhibited gaming products at GTI Expo were 30% fewer than last year.  Nonetheless, the products’ top quality made up for the loss of quantity.  The following paragraphs are the summaries of the astonishing products at the expo.     
 
A.    Adult gaming/amusement machines
1.    Slot and pachinslot games:
Slot machines are the most played gaming machines around world.  With countless interesting themes, slot machines bring fun to every place around the world.  At GTI 2009, Jumbo brought out its Chinese themed “Qin Empire” and “Wukong.”  Long Sheng had its “Halloween Party,” “Treasure Hunting,” and “The Circus.”  Borden had Western themed “Beanstalk” and Eastern themed “Pan Jin Lian.”  Other slot machines included Subsino’s “Big Pharaoh” and “Blue Zoo,” ENG “Romance of 3 Kingdoms,” Mega “Ocean Park,” Global Game “Cowboy” and “Dream 7,” IAM “Jumanji 2” and “The Wolf Comes,” Lu Hao “Animal Park,” and Excellence “HAHA Circus.”  There were also some Japanese popular Pachinslot machines, such as JT-Comatz, Shin Yoshimune, and Jungle Cubs.
2.    Bingo and keno games:
Known for splendid special effects, bingo ball machines are also favored by a lot of players.  This year, Bingotimes displayed “Bingo B Series,” Lon Sheng got “Bingo Galaxy II,” Le Chi Hwa had “Happy Colored Ball” and “Homer” showed various types of Bingos.   

3.    Roulette and dice machines:
Casino would not be casino without roulette and dice machines.  The product line-up in this category was more than amazing.  The popular machines were: Jumbo Technology “Genetic Sic-Bo” and “Genetic Roulette,” GMS/ Wayi “Sicbo King” and “Jump Jump,” Borden “Royal Club,” Yue Ta “Mo Sicbo” and “The Kingdom of Chess 8 Seats,” Mega “12 Lunar New Year Animals,” Nippo “Dragon Dice,” and Laxan “Roulette Victory.”

4.    Mario games:
Mario games/ Mario slots have developed into a bunch of different styles and designs.  It is now the best type of products for Taiwanese companies to test their capability to get into the international business arena.  The exhibited Mario games included ENG’s “Transformer,” Etica’s “Asian Ball Tour,” Cheer Jingle’s “Diamond Stage” and “Lottery Stage,” and Min-Yan’s “WRESTLEMANIA.”
5.    Poker and large-sized baccarat machines:
Poker and baccarat have been the most played games both in the Western and Eastern markets.  At GTI Expo, there were the latest machines, such as Jumbo’s “Robot Baccarat,” GMS/ Wayi’s “Dancing Six 6 Multi-Players,” Borden’s “Poker Ace,” Pan Asia’s “Black Jack N.R.,” Le Chi Hwa’s “Black Jack,” Homer’s robot arm baccarat machines, Micro Sova’s “Lucky Baccarat,” Taiwan Fulgent’s “Black Jack,” and Hwei Chung’s “Mechanical Baccarat.”

6.    Coin pushers:
The manufacturers’ creativities have pushed coin pushers to another boundary.  With new concepts on the playing rules, the fresh coin pushers have brought more fun in the most eye-catching designs.  There were NAMCO-BANDI’s “Lucky Marine Theater,” Keaon/Ally Star’s “Crazy Circus” and “Fishing Fun,” LE CHI HWA’s “Rave Party,” KNT’s “Doki Doki Medal Land,” and Kai Yao’s “Pirate Coin Pusher.”

B.    Music and simulation games:
In the Taiwanese amusement market recently, music games have been more popular than ever, leading to intense competition between manufacturers.  The most focused machines at the expo were IGS’ “We Dancing Online,” endorsed by Taiwanese pop queen Jolin Tsai, NAMCO-BANDI’s “Taiko No Tatsujin 11, and the newly coming Kingtronic’s “TECHNIKA” and Game Plus’ “Super Jazz Drum.”
Simulation games are also favored by many players.  Many exciting games were displayed at the expo, such as Feiloli and Pan Asia’s “Speed Driver II,” which was developed by IGS, NAMCO-BANDI’s “NIRIN,” and Pan Asia Amusement’s “Initial D5.”

C.    Carnival redemption games:
Suitable for all ages, carnival redemption games area had grown larger than before.  The list included Pan Asia’s “Hopping Road” and “Tacco Kids,” Saint-Fun’s “Forest Kingdom,” “Monkey Paradise,” and “Hit Amazon,” Feiloli’s “Football Fever,” and Kingtronic’s “Shooting Chance.”  There were still some familiar games with some improving tweaks that reminded good old days, such as I Cing’s “Hit the Mole,” CLE’s table tennis, “ICE Hockey” and “Power Shooter,” Borden’s boxing machine, “Celebrity Finals,” Tecway’s “On Tap” and “Fishing Fun,” I Cing’s “Crazy Shoot,” K-King’s “Shooting Match,” Zhongshan Golden Dragon’s “Magic Gun 2008,” and Game Art’s “Nankin Dream” and “Sailing Monopoly.”

D.    Motion simulation machines:
The number of the exhibited motion simulation machines has gradually increased since three years ago.  Chilean visitor, Rene Sepulveda Vera, said, “It was the simulators that caught everybody’s eyes this year.”  “Mobile Suit Gundam Senjo No Kizuna” brought by NAMCO-BANDAI was a great hit at GTI Expo, creating a huge interested crowds in line.  Injoy also brought its amazing new simulators, “XP360 Powerboat SDX,” “XP0 Powerboat STD,” “XA2 PANZER DX,” and “XA1 PANZER CL.”  Coming from Korea, JJ Union displayed its “Aquarace Extreme,” “Mini Rider 2,” and “Giant Rider,” which received very positive reviews. 

E.    Kiddie rides:
To attract and offer more amusement options for kids, most of the kiddie rides manufacturers had greatly improved their products’ outward designs.  The additional video control systems on kiddie rides provided various story lines for kids to play along with.  The representing products at GTI Expo were Feiloli’s “Animal Party,” Feng Yung Cheng’s “Amazing Sport Car,” “Mini Steam Train,” and “Golden Pirate,” Kingtronic’s “Roller Coaster,” Asia Amusement’s “Ultraman,” Zhongshan Luck’s “Horse,” and Zhongshan G-Look’s “Flower Pony.”

F.    Video Games:
Traditionally speaking, most of the games in this field were fighting and shooting games, but there were many new designs appeared this year.  SEGA, IGS, and Wahlap had cooperated on the “Sangokushi Taisen.”  There were also Yung-Chi/ Game Plus’ “Shabu-Shabu,” Keaon’s “Burger Hunter,” Power Creation’s “Super Goalkeepers” and “Shooting Master,” Jungletac Interactive’s “Golden Fish” and “Ballon Boy,” Korean Dongseo University’s “Come on Baby 2,” K-King’s “Ancient Orb,” Tong Li’s “The King of Fighters” and “The King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match,” Mega’s “Arcana Heart,” IGS’ “Jigsaw Puzzle Hero,” and Hypaa’s “Touch Mania.”

G.    Crane/gift vending machines:
Youal-Jifh displayed “Small Crane Machine,” “Mini Peluche Box,” and “Giant Peluche Box.”  CLE had “Happy Time.”  Weche pulled out “QQ Baby,” and ENG exhibited a photo machine capable of designing and printing.

H.    Pinball bingo and flipper machines:
Taiwanese pinball machines are world famous.  Non-stopping, the creative Taiwanese companies had added more great new features to their pinball machines, such as animations, slot wheels, and running lights, drawing lots of attention at the expo.  The displayed products at GTI were ENG’s “2010 World Cup,” Kwang Yi’s “World Cup Plus-5” and “Chilean Football 5,” Taiwan Yuanmei’s “Football Beauty Contest” and “Harlem Circus,” Frolicker’s “Super Futbol,” Sheng Yang’s “Flipper Pinball,” Hua-Yaun’s “Magic Box,” and Sheng Bau’s “Soccer Star 2” and “Football Marble.”

I.    Parts and accessories:
Another frequently discussed product category at the expo was parts and accessories, showing the international fame of Taiwanese manufacturing ability.  The products at the expo were YTE’s and Yatta Lunta’s monitors, ICT’s bill acceptor, Shang Yang’s hopper and motor, Will Join’s, Chan Ming’s and Jyuee Ang’s push buttons, wire harness, and LEDs, Coinsolve’s and MEI’s coin mechanisms, Gambinet, Weche, Hong Yen, Chen Mao, and Huai I’s cabinets, FutureLogic’s printer solutions, MJK’s locks, EWT’s card readers/ writers, Fen Chen’s bill acceptors and card dispensers.  New Sun Yu, Han Sen, GZ, EAGO, Win Lenk, and A-Rabbit also presented    their products.  There were also industrial computer products like Embedded Systems and PCBs from Advantech, Axiomtek, and Acrosser.

J.    Others:
There were Bingotimes’ “T series,” “Bingo,” “Sic Bo,” “Baccarat II,” and “Black Jack,” World Wide Sun’s product designs, QubicaAMF’s “Skiller,” and Gauss’ “Online Arcade Game Developing System.” 
One thing that worth mentioning is that in this year, Taiwan offshore island casino/ gambling was officially legalized.  Aiming at the future market need of the specialized casino/ gaming workers, the expert in training casino dealers, Casino College Taiwan, also participated in GTI Expo 2009, announcing its new courses.  On the other hand, All-in Poker Club exhibited at GTI for the first time this year, demonstrating and promoting Texas Hold’em, catching many visitors’ attentions.

Thriving New Machines Capturing The Market Trend 

Since the profits in manga, anime and the video games subcultures business has dramatically increased in recent years, the number of the exhibited video games was also much higher than before.  From simulators and music games to video and carnival games, the quality, quantity, and the number of the game categories were all improved this year.  For example, IGS’ “We Dancing Online” has already been a great hit for a year.  The latest from Kingtronic-- “TECHNIKA” --had also been building up good reviews and reputations.  Though the control and the play style were quite different, both games had captured the teenagers’ tastes.  With familiar pop music, the music game’s trend was unstoppable.
Speaking of trend, touch screen is the hottest technology in all fields of electronic products.  Hypaa’s “Touch Mania” applied the latest touch screen technology, showing the new possibility of game designs.

One of the visitors’ favorite simulators, NAMCO-BANDAI’s “Mobile Suit Gundam Senjo No Kizuna,” also satisfied everyone’s thirst for astonishing technology.  Being the operator of the great robots, such as Mazinger Z, Getter, or Gundam, is the dream of every little boy.  This game makes the dream come true.  It featured a close replica control cabin and control panels/ pedals, perfectly simulating the feel of riding a robot, amazing the visitors who tried it out.

Moreover, kiddie rides have improved to the level of the simulators.  Kingtronic’s “Roller Coaster” was a small-scaled roller-coaster simulator for kids.  However, it was a fully functional simulator capable of presenting the realistic exciting experiences, such as forwarding, leaning, accelerating, and braking.  Pan Asia’s “Hopping Road” was also another fine unit.  It was as simple as jumping on the machines, but the simulation technologies were well designed.

Observing this year’s expo, the future of arcade video games seems heading toward two main directions.  First of all, the improving technologies have raised players’ criterions on animations and audio/ visual effects.  When consumers’ everyday lives are exposed to Blu-Ray Disc, DVDs, and IMAX movies, the animations of the future games surely need to catch up.  Secondly, the popularity of the online games, video games, pc games, and handheld games urge arcade game manufacturers to develop more competitive.  The main selling point of the arcade games is the highly interactive playing experience.  Tecway’s General Manager, Ray Hsieh, said, “Interactive controls are especially important in the arcade gaming machines’ designs and developments.  We want to make the players put down their mouse, keyboard, and controllers, and come to arcade, enjoying more exciting and special audio/ visual amusements.”

Therefore, Injoy Motion, Tecway, JJ Union, Kingtronic, IGS, and NAMCO-BANDAI all displayed the products that provided various virtual reality experiences.  Injoy Motion’s vice general manager, Johnson Chiang, said, “Holding the latest core technologies can help R&D companies building up products suitable for wider range of markets.  It also provides the possibilities for companies to cross to the other business fields.”　

For example, virtual reality modeling needs throughout researches on movement simulation technology, 3DVR engine, movement platforms, and many more.     Facing the pressures from the serious competitions all over the world, every company needs to find its strength and uniqueness in the business, and concentrate on further R&D.     

Other types of products have similar problems.  Taiwan Yuanmei’s president, Yung-Yuan Wang, had deep understanding in the importance of the products’ competitiveness.  Therefore, Taiwan Yuanmei had since invested more on redesigning and even redefining pinball machines.  At GTI Expo 2009, its achievements were shown to the public.  Its “Football Beauty Contest” and “Harlem Circus” had improved cabinets, coin mechanism, draw bar, panel, and animation.  Some of the designs were totally unseen before.  It highlighted the crucial role of creativity in this era.

Prime Focus: Taiwan Casino Unbanned

Though the international gambling business had declined, causing the number of the related products to decrease, MGM CEO Jim Murren believed the situation has been getting better.  The legalization of the Taiwanese offshore casino/ gambling zone also stimulated the industry and became the main topic of many discussions.

Seeing the bright future of gambling business, the leading online game company in Taiwan, Soft World, has been planning on gambling amusement investments.  It already jointly signed a strategic alliance with Global Gaming Research Center (GGRC), an R&D unit belonging to the Macau-based Ocean Tech Group, for cooperation to develop an online education system for training game-operating staff at casinos.  Soft World’s Chairman Chin-Po Wang said, “Taiwan definitely has great potentials and resources to develop tourism and amusement business.”  Chin-Po Wang came to GTI Expo in person to investigate the current state of Taiwanese gambling products, and had a meeting with Jumbo Technology President Jasbir Hsu. 

Not only online game companies look good to Taiwanese gambling business, many colleges have opened gambling related courses, and the casino dealers training courses have been the most popular ones.  Casino College USA also opened its Taiwan division, hiring well experienced Chinese casino managers around the world to teach professional dealings of Roulette, Blackjack, Baccarat, and Texas’ Hold’em.  At GTI Expo, Casino College demonstrated the professional casino dealing techniques

Casino College Taiwan’s Public Relation Manager Xu Lin Shu said, “Professional dealers need to learn all the techniques on the table, rules, professional phrases, and how to communicate with the players.  Controlling the tempo of game progression is also very important.  It is a must to make the gambling process smooth and understood by all the players.”  These are the main courses our students must learn.

Speaking of professional card games, the most popular poke game in American casinos, Texas Hold’em, is also favored around the world.  All In Entertainment Limited aimed at the raising population of Texas Hold’em players in Taiwan, joining GTI Expo to advertise and recruit more potential players.  Nevada State Office on Economic Development Representative, Charlyne Chen, mentioned at the opening ceremony that GTI Expo 2009 was the first international gambling/ amusement expo after Taiwan legalized casino business.  Therefore, all the interested business people should participate!

The Navigator of the Industry -The Responsibility of GTI Expo

To make the expo succeed, the host had done its best to provide a complete service from beginning to end, matching up to exhibitor’s needs.  The questionnaires collected at the expo also provided a lot of information and suggestions for GTI to have further improvements at the future expos.  

Concluding the opinions, most of the participants thought the overall performance was very good, including the depth of the expo, the quality of the products, and the layout of the passages and booths.  A-Rabbit’s Manager, Wang Guo Long, and Mega’s Sale Representative, Wu Meng Hua, both complimented on the smooth route design. 

However, Wu Meng Hua suggested, “There could be more maps posted on obvious places and set stands to mark the booth numbers.  It would be more convenient for the visitors.”  ICT Margarida Holtkamp from Germany suggested having more instructions in English would help foreign participants more.

Some exhibitors like Frolicker, Acrosser, Weche, and Hong Yen expressed that they felt the number of European and North American visitors/ buyers didn’t reach their expectations.  From statistics, the number of GTI Asia Taipei Expo 2009’s European and North American visitors/ buyers had no significant improvement, but Asian and South American visitors/ buyers increased. 

The Economist has pointed out that Asia will be leading the economic recovery.  Barclays Capital Asian Economics Research also stated that China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia all handed out stimulate plans creating more than 4% of GDP, twice more than America, meaning a faster pace of economy recovery.  According to his company’s experiences, Huai I’s vice manager Kevin Huang said, “Everyone felt the massive pressure at the end of 2008, but it is getting better this year.”     

During the economic crisis, Asian countries have carried out various policies to stimulate the economy and employment.  Many anticipate the future economic centers will move to the East, and Asian countries will rise.  The CEO of Altira Macau Hotel, Ted Chan stated, “The worst time for Macau’s gambling business has gone.  Though the casinos’ income hasn’t come back to the previous height, it is satisfying.”  The crisis is also the turning point.  It is the best timing for companies to invest in Asian markets. 

GTI Expo has been hosted since 1993 and has already become the leading Asian gambling/ amusement expo.  It is also selected as one of the best expos in Taiwan by Taipei World Trade Center, which is approved by local and foreign companies alike.  Therefore, GTI Expo is the best platform to explore business, collect industry information, and get updated to the latest product trends.

Facing the future, GTI Expo will continue to push the gambling/ amusement business forward, facilitate the cooperation between companies, and create more foreign business possibilities.  It will be heading to the ultimate goal steadily.  Its 17th edition, GTI 2010, will take place on May 2~4.  We whole-heartedly welcome everyone’s participation!   For more information please visit www.gtiexpo.com.tw.