President and 10,000 visitors on opening day of TiTE x IHT

The Taiwan International Tools & Hardware Expo x International Hardware Expo Taiwan (TiTE x IHT) attracted more than 10,000 trade visitors on its opening day yesterday. Among them were over 100 hosted international buyers invited by the organiser Lanza International, representing global tool brands such as Stanley Black & Decker, Snap-on and Würth, as well as leading home improvement retailers including Leroy Merlin, Kingfisher, Obi and Ace Hardware. A total of 450 exhibiting companies are represented at the show, occupying more than 1,000 booths. The trade fair opened yesterday, 20 October 2026, and runs until tomorrow, 22 October.

As in the previous year, Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te travelled to Taichung to attend the opening ceremony yesterday. In his address, he recognised the industry's continued resilience amidst tariff adjustments, exchange rate fluctuations and supply chain realignments. He reaffirmed the government's commitment to supporting SMEs in adopting AI, smart manufacturing and low-carbon transformations – enabling Taiwan to transition from "Made in Taiwan" to co-creating value with the world.

The organisers had arranged a special presentation for the opening ceremony. Visiting Australian firefighters from the Australian Firefighters Calendar, a charity fundraising project, took the stage to demonstrate the performance of Taiwan-made tools. The demonstration was intended to highlight the importance of reliable tools in emergency rescue operations, where every second counts.

Beyond disaster response and rescue, the organisers also pointed to applications such as civic infrastructure maintenance. They deliberately linked the reliability of tools and local manufacturing capacity to the broader concept of whole-of-society resilience and national security. The presentation was thus intended to demonstrate that the value of Taiwan's hardware industry extends beyond export competitiveness to encompass societal protection.

President Lai subsequently joined key dignitaries for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, including Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Chin-tsang, Taitra Secretary-General Wang Hsi-mong, China Steel Corporation Chairman Huang Chien-chih and Japan DIY-HC Association Vice Chairperson Terutaka Takeda. Following the ceremony, President Lai toured the exhibition halls and interacted with exhibitors.

Alongside the trade fair, the "Team Taiwan Global Hardware Summit: From Resilient Manufacturing to Smart Co-Creation" features six sessions across yesterday and today, 21 October. The programme focuses on market trends, material co-creation, AI applications and decarbonisation. Among the speakers is Japan DIY-HC Association Vice Chairperson Terutaka Takeda, who addresses product selection strategies for Japanese home centres.

In addition, a one-on-one sourcing matchmaking meeting took place on the eve of the exhibition, bringing nearly 60 international buyers together with Taiwanese suppliers. The meetings were designed to facilitate immediate follow-up visits to the trade fair and factory audits.