Despite the loss of export orders due to quake-damage to local factories and lost production from weeks of power rationing, Taiwan is expected to record respectable export growth for 1999, according to trade officials.
"Annual export growth for 1999 is expected to reach 7 percent," said Chen Ruey-long (陳瑞隆), director general of the Board of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
Officials at the MOEA said their calculations showed that over 95 percent of manufacturers island wide, including those located in the hardest hit areas of central Taiwan, have returned to normal operation. According figures from the Director General of Customs under the Ministry of Finance total losses amounted to US$850 million in September and October.
The total export amount in October is expected to come in at US$10.5 billion, Chen added. However, the quake is likely to cause an export loss of US$200 million in October.
Customs figures show that exports for the first 16 days of October grew 23.5 percent compared to the same period last year, with the month of October expected to record total export growth of 20 percent.
"The export increase this month can be partially attributed to the postponement of exports of some products from September because of the quake," Wen Wu (
The export loss in September of at least US$650 million suggests the quake did have an impact on trade. According to the finance ministry, exports for September reached US$9.56 billion -- a minor 0.9 percent increase over the same period last year.
Between June and August, average monthly growth compared to the same period last year was 10.4 percent.
A number of Asian economies have recorded export growth this year in the wake of the 1997 financial crisis.
According to bureau of foreign trade statistics, for the first 6 months Malaysia enjoyed export growth of 9.21 percent compared to the same period last year, while the Philippines recorded 13.65 percent export growth. South Korea, meanwhile, recorded an average monthly growth rate of 15.2 percent for the period June to September this year.
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