Taiwan today abounds with signs of economic growth and progress--densely packed high-rise buildings, busy, congested streets, a fashionable population. New prosperity is also reflected in another, perhaps less obvious area--the gift industry. Gift manufacturers are not only an important segment of the island's trade economy, they also provide a newly affluent society with many consumer and luxury items.

Buying for pleasure as opposed to necessity is a relatively new phenomenon on Taiwan. Young people may feel comfortable spending their steadily rising wages on games, jewelry, toys and decorative items. Yet those above age thirty, while economically able, feel less at ease purchasing a gift or luxury item which is not a necessity.

Small presents given to express friendship or like sentiments, gift items twenty years ago were scarce and costly on Taiwan. Of limited variety, they could only be purchased in stationery stores or special sections of department stores. Now, stores which specialize in a wide variety of inexpensive gifts are thriving and numerous.

Chairman Li Hsien-yao of the Sanfeng Company, an exporter of gift items for fourteen years, states that gift items may be classified as stationery items, toys, home decorations, household goods, and easily dismantled furniture. While all may be purchased in Taiwan, household goods and furniture are manufactured primarily for export.

Chairman Fang Ch'eng-yi of Mercuries and Associates, Ltd. points out that the quantity and variety of gift items consumed is an indicator of the national standard of living. Only after food, clothing, housing, and transportation needs have been taken care of can a population begin to consider purchasing gifts and nonessential items.

In the past few years, Taiwan's gift manufacturers have not only satisfied domestic demand, but have also played a crucial role in Taiwan's export economy. Total exports of gift items are second only to those of electronic items and textiles. Surpassing Japan, and a step below Hong Kong, Taiwan is the world's second largest exporter of toy items.

Currently, dolls are the most popular export toys. While electric toys captivated consumers' interest four or five years back, market demand is now moving to more traditional toys. Simple building blocks and cloth dolls are said to better develop children's imaginations. Market trends in Europe and the U.S. this year show that older people are buying ceramic dolls to pass on to the younger generation.

International demand for gift items, steadily increasing apace of world population growth and improved living standards, has led to the development of worldwide gift industries. Advanced nations often phase out their production of small gifts in favor of larger, technical and high profit items. Countries such as the Republic of China are thus able to penetrate wider markets with gift exports.

The gift industry is supported by a number of other industries. For instance, the electronics, plastics, textile, and printing industries all contribute to the production of a talking doll. Sufficient advances in these industries predicate the production of a high quality doll. Ts'ui Chung, advisor to the Taiwan Toy Manufacturers Association, points out that Taiwan's supporting industries, benefited by technical experience accumulated over the past thirty years, are unmatched by those of any other advancing nation.

Taiwan's chief competitor in the toy line is Hong Kong. Recently however, the uncertainty and instability of Hong Kong's future has led many toy dealers to transfer their business orders from Hong Kong to Taiwan.

Market tastes and consumer preferences in foreign countries are an important concern of gift exporters. Due to rising labor costs, manufacturers cannot afford to produce items that are not competitive on the foreign market. Thus, export companies must make considerable investments in the research and design of items which will be popular.

As people tend to favor anything novel, the life-span of a gift item is generally short. New items must be turned out continually. In order to improve designs and keep abreast of new trends, companies such as Mercuries and Associates, Ltd. participate in overseas gift exhibitions. The Union Group Company not only sends its designers abroad for training, it also hires foreign designers to help create goods that will more accurately answer the demands of the foreign consumer.

The greatest obstacle to the development of the gift industry is fraudulent competition and imitation. Chairman Li of the Sanfeng Company relates an experience of nine years ago when he received an order for a type of rocking chair which was then popular in Europe and America. Lacking the facilities used abroad to press the curved birch for the rocker, Sanfeng developed a method of achieving a more solid curved form with layered wood, which could be conveniently disassembled and transported. Other companies soon began using Sanfeng's techniques to manufacture a surplus of similar chairs, driving the price down and sacrificing both the quality and the profitability of such rockers.

In order to prevent such occurrences, the Taiwan Toy Manufacturers Association is now taking steps toward the registration and examination of export products. Exporters who use the trademark or imitate the product of another company without authorization are refused export permits. In addition, a good's price must also be registered with the Association in order to help prevent competition from driving prices down too low.

Taiwan is gradually overcoming obstacles to profitable gift manufacturing, and increasing production of gifts. Meanwhile the people of Taiwan are learning to enjoy the pleasures and comforts provided by this growing industry.

(Jill Ardourel)

[Picture Caption]

1. This colorful array of stuffed toys brings out the child in everyone. 2. An ingeniously designed cupboard for children.

1. These colorful containers can be used to hold candy, coins and other small items. 2. A wooden bank is also a picture frame. 3. The designer of this gift item has left nothing 'uncovered', as even the vase comes fully clothed. 4. Hanging decorations with auspicious messages. 5. Painted fruit dishes and artificial fruits are commonly seen decorative items. 6. These straw dolls have a local flavor. 7. Clocks designed with cartoon forms for children.

1. Charming music boxes hold Christmas figures. 2.3. Different styles of jewelry boxes. 4. A wide variety of purses for young girls. 5. Earring trees are popular gift items abroad.

1. Pen-and-pencil sets make ideal gifts for elementary school children. 2. This letter holder is both useful and attractive. 3. Teenage girls are steady patrons of Taiwan's gift shops. 4. Brightly colored pencil tops form an interesting pattern. 5. Small, handy reading lamps can be clasped to a book or the side of a desk. 6. These ceramic picture frames have a European flavor. 7. A brass plated desk lamp, glasses container, shaver, calculator and note pad are examples of Taiwan's high quality gift items.

2. An ingeniously designed cupboard for children.

1. These colorful containers can be used to hold candy, coins and other small items.

2. A wooden bank is also a picture frame.

3. The designer of this gift item has left nothing 'uncovered', as even the vase comes fully clothed.

4. Hanging decorations with auspicious messages.

5. Painted fruit dishes and artificial fruits are commonly seen decorative items.

6. These straw dolls have a local flavor.

7. Clocks designed with cartoon forms for children.

1. Charming music boxes hold Christmas figures.

2.3. Different styles of jewelry boxes.

2.3. Different styles of jewelry boxes.

4. A wide variety of purses for young girls.

5. Earring trees are popular gift items abroad.

1. Pen-and-pencil sets make ideal gifts for elementary school children.

2. This letter holder is both useful and attractive.

3. Teenage girls are steady patrons of Taiwan's gift shops.

4. Brightly colored pencil tops form an interesting pattern.

5. Small, handy reading lamps can be clasped to a book or the side of a desk.

6. These ceramic picture frames have a European flavor.

7. A brass plated desk lamp, glasses container, shaver, calculator and note pad are examples of Taiwan's high quality gift items.