Taipei, July 13 (CNA) A foreign-ventured local company has launched an ambitious campaign to market Taiwan to the world by turning its landmark Taipei 101 into the world's biggest Christmas tree.

"We want to make the whole world know about Taiwan, and Christmas is something that everybody cares about, whether one is Christian or not," Elias Ek, president of telemarketing company Enspyre, told CNA in a telephone interview.

"Tapping into the whole Christmas theme, Taiwan will be able to really connect to people around the world, " said Ek, who is also co-chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce Taipei's small- and medium-sized enterprises center.

According to the Swedish entrepreneur, the idea came from a marketing competition his company held in April with the aim of promoting Taiwan. Three students from National Taiwan University and National Taiwan Normal University proposed turning the 509-meter Taipei 101 into a Christmas tree by installing LED lighting on its facade that will last much longer than the building's annual New Year's eve firework show.

Admitting that in the beginning he thought the idea was "crazy, " Ek said that after consulting with companies such as Panasonic and Philips -- which promised to provide technical support -- he has great confidence that this is an absolutely do-able project, and he expressed hope that more companies from home and abroad will participate in putting it into practice.

"This is a project that should be carried out and we are looking forward to getting it done, " Ek said, adding that the project is seeking for an investment of roughly NT$400 million (US$12 million) from 25 companies, all of whom will obtain in return the right to advertise on the exterior of Taipei 101.

Although the cost is nearly 10 times the amount of Taipei 101's annual New Year's Eve fireworks display, which has become a major event attracting global attention every year, the effect of the project will be much bigger, as it will last for 45 days from December to mid-January 2010, according to Ek.

Moreover, as the world's top LED manufacturers and suppliers, companies in Taiwan can use the display as an opportunity to demonstrate their advances in the field to the international community, he added.

In addition to turning Taipei 101 into the world's biggest Christmas tree, another project to market Taiwan under the Christmas theme will be a Web site campaign to promote products made in Taiwan, he continued.

The idea of the campaign is to invite individuals and charity organizations around the world to choose from a list of products manufactured in Taiwan as their Christmas presents and explain how these products will improve their lives, according to Ek, adding that the winner will receive the product they choose.

"Taiwan has a lot of good marketing channels but not enough to reach out to regular people. This will be a good way for them to realize how their lives have been touched or will be improved by Taiwanese products," Ek said.

While seeking government support for these two campaigns, Ek also called on local and international companies to visit http: //enspyre.taiwanchallenges.com/ for more information about the projects.

(By Rachel Chan)