Taipei City Government

Mayor Ko Wen-je attended the 3rd GoldenBoat Awards Presentation Ceremony in the afternoon of September 29. He pointed out that it is impossible for Taiwan to rely on OEM indefinitely, so development of local brands is a must. He also encourages local enterprises to continue to work on establishing their own brands, hoping to accomplish another Taiwan miracle and prove themselves to the world.
 
During his speech, the mayor talked about the city government’s effort in establishing Taipei City as a brand itself in the global market. In the process, city hall also set up an aesthetics task force which became involved in projects spanning social housing to MRT Circular Line construction to public market overhauls, hoping to play a role in transforming the image of Taipei City through the bottom-up approach.
 
Citing the 2017 Universiade as an example, Ko remarked that during the initial phase, promotion effort was the responsibility of the respective city agencies. However, actual implementation showed that each department has their own take – resulting in various differences in aspects ranging from focus to event logo. As a result, the city government decided to consolidate the overall approach at the municipality level and concentrate all resources and efforts under the “Taipei city” brand.
 
Following the Universiade, the aesthetics task force continues to be involved in many projects to help build Taipei’s image as a brand encompassing tourism, culture, and social harmony. Its involvement can be seen in the designs of various new social housings, which looks very different from the traditional “matchbox-like” apartment buildings. The team’s input has been incorporated to the design of the upcoming MRT Circular Line station design as well.

This year’s GoldenBoat Awards selected 30 winners from a pool of 113 contestants. Among these winners, 15 companies are registered in Taipei City. While the process of building brand reputation takes a long time, Ko hopes that the business leaders will continue to dedicate themselves to this goal. He also took the opportunity to express his gratitude to the General Chamber of Commerce of the ROC for supporting local businesses and uncovering indigenous brands through organization of awards and other approaches.