September 26, 2000

The China External Trade Development Council (CETRA),a semi-governmental trade promotion organization, announced that it will lead a trade mission to the U.S. from October 1 to 7. The group will include approximately 20 Taiwan stationery makers, and will focus mainly on stationery and office accessories.

The main goal of the trade mission is to help Taiwan stationery manufacturers expand their sales opportunities in the U.S. market. According to a CETRA spokesperson, while in the U.S. the group will visit several large stationery distributors, including Staples Inc., a leading office "superstore". As indicated in published company reports, Staples Inc. achieved a 20 percent increase in revenue to US$2.2 billion in the second quarter of this year, compared with US$1.84 billion for the same period last year.

CETRA has previously organized stationery trade missions similar to this one, and a visit to Latin America in November will closely follow the trip to the U.S.  

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