Starting from 2011, Tainan City government began to lobby for the construction of the Greater Tainan Convention and Exhibition Center in the city. After many years of labor, the Executive Yuan officially green-lit the application in August, 2016 and co-signed the agreement document with the Ministry of Economic Affairs in December the same year. Today (May 12), Mayor William Lai officially launched the international call for design proposals for the Convention and Exhibition Center which will be built in the High Speed Rail Tainan Station Special District. The Mayor pointed out that the expo center will serve three different areas: conventions, exhibitions, and performing arts. The government is also in talks with the Bureau of High Speed Rail to develop hotels and other accommodations near the center. Hopefully this project will stimulate local industry development, create more employment, and maximize economic benefits.
In his remarks, Mayor Lai mentioned that after the Merger, Tainan city still has no large expo center. He thanked Tainan Spinning Co. Chairman Cheng Kao-huei for his support as the Mayor did encourage Cheng to rent a venue and set up a temporary exhibition center to satisfy the demand for large exhibition spaces. Mayor Lai also expressed his gratitude to the past Primers, President Tsai, Premier Lin Chuan and the City Council. Thanks to their strong support, Tainan City received a budget of more than NTD 2 billion from the central government and is now able to build the first multifunctional international convention and exhibition center.
The Mayor further remarked that the Greater Tainan Convention and Exhibition Center will serve as a venue for conferences, exhibitions, and performing arts. He pointed out that before the Merger in 2010, former Tainan City Government and National University of Tainan originally planned to build an Arena on the land expropriated in southern Tainan suburbs. But after evaluating transportation management and safety issues related to large events held in the area, the team from National Cheng Kung University strongly advised against building the Arena there. Nevertheless, the city government did not completely give up on the project: this new expo center, which replaces the original Arena, can also serve as a venue for performing arts and thus will have better development potential.
Mayor Lai laid out three benefits of building this expo center. Firstly, it would stimulate industry development in Tainan and create job opportunities; second, the construction would stimulate the development of Gueiren District High Speed Rail Special District, which has not seen major developments in the past dozen years; thirdly, the government is very optimistic about the operation benefits from the expo center as it would surely attract more businesses and industries. In addition to the 10,000 major local businesses in Tainan, including fasteners, machinery, auto parts, and mold & die industries, the area will also encompass Shalun Green Energy Science City, which the city government has invested NT 20 to 30 billion dollars as research budget; and the nation’s top academic research institute, Academia Sinica (Southern Taiwan Branch). This will stimulate private investments in local amenities and accommodate future demands brought by many conferences and expos as well.
It is worth noting that the city government has already started discussions with the Bureau of High Speed Rail to utilize the land which belongs to HSR beside the expo center. The government plans to build hotels via BOT to cater to the large demand on accommodations and food and drink during events, and businesses are more than welcome to take part in the project.
The Greater Tainan Convention and Exhibition Center is to be built in the High Speed Rail Tainan Station Special District. It will be able to accommodate an exhibition with 600 booths and have a column-free space that is at least 12 meters high. The center should have one conference room for 1000 people (can be partitioned into four rooms with 250 people each), one conference room for 800 people (can to partitioned into a 500-people room and a 300-people room), five rooms for 100 people (can be partitioned into 50-people rooms), and three rooms for 20 people (can to partitioned into a 20-40 people room). The parking lot should accommodate 550 passenger vehicles and 450 scooters. The total budget is NT 2,002,460,000, including construction (approximately NT 1.795 billion), design fees and indirect construction costs.
The Public Works Bureau expresses that the city government launched this international call for proposals with the public’s best interest at heart. The aim is to seek the best design from home and abroad which offers innovative planning and visions. In the future, the expo center will also integrate the functions of an arena and serve as a multifunctional venue for performances, athletic games and other events. The expo center should be a green and smart convention center and, along with the Academia Sinica (Southern Taiwan Branch) and Shalun Green Energy Science City, can realize the vision the city government has for High Speed Rail Tainan Station Special District and stimulate overall local development.
Tainan City Government sincerely invites local and international designing teams to submit their proposals and build a new landmark for Tainan! The call for proposals will be officially released online around mid-May, 2017; and the winner will be announced by the end of July, 2017. For more information, please visit http://www.tainanexpocenter.com or call Tainan City Government Public Works Bureau (06-2991111#8714).