Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin attended the opening ceremony of the International Urban Development Association's (INTA) 33rd annual meeting at the Grand Hotel on October 7.
After welcoming the attendees to Taipei City, the mayor briefed the audience on some of the city’s achievements, starting with the deployment of a municipal wireless broadband network. Taipei has continued to claim first place in the ECA International ranking of intelligent cities for three consecutive years since 2006.
On the implementation of the per-bag garbage fee collection, Hau stated that the measure helped reduce the city’s garbage generation by 65.41 percent over the years. In addition, the policy of allowing residents to use any trash bags for disposing recyclable items boosted the city’s waste recycling rate to 44.03 percent.
To strengthen Taipei’s edge in the information technology (IT) sector, the city government drafted plans for a third IT park in the city, which will concentrate in the fields of communications and biotech. The city currently boasts two technology parks which generate a combined revenue exceeding US$88 billion.
Hau also talked about the city’s effort to link up with the world by holding major international events. Following the successful 2009 Summer Deaflympics in September, Taipei is preparing for the five-month-long International Garden and Horticulture Expo slated for November of 2010. The city will also host the International Design Alliance (IDA) World Congress in 2011.
Dignitaries attending this year’s INTA meeting include Department of Urban and Housing Development Director General Chan Kuei-lin, Director General Alfonso Martinez Cearra of Spain’s Bilbao Metropoli-30, as well as scholars and experts from various fields.
The Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency organized the INTA33 World Urban Development Congress this year. The first half of the congress (from October 4 through October 6) took place in Kaohsiung and the second part of the event (between October 6 and October 8) took place in Taipei.