Women's fashion retailer and manufacturer Veeko International aims to increase its market share in Taiwan this year despite fears that last week's earthquake will hinder a nascent recovery in consumer demand.
The company is going ahead with plans to expand its retail network from five to 20 outlets by the end of the year, mostly in the Taipei area, outside the earthquake's epicentre.
Chairman and managing director Johnny Cheng Chung-man aims to have Taiwan account for 10 per cent of Veeko's turnover this year.
The company's products had been particularly well received in Taiwan and demand had surged in the first half of the year, said executive director Lawrence Ng Man-kit.
'We feel that the price, style and fitting of our products are particularly suited to the Taiwan market,' he said.
The earthquake's impact on the Taipei area was 'mostly psychological', Mr Ng said, and he expected the NT$100 billion (about HK$24.39 billion) Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui has pledged to spend on rebuilding infrastructure would boost consumer demand.