Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) said yesterday that the government will accelerate efforts to boost exports and foreign investment in Taiwan to secure steady economic growth.
Noting that the world economy grew at a much slower pace in the first quarter of this year, with Taiwan's production and foreign trade sliding as well, Ho said that boosting foreign investment in Taiwan and fueling exports are the only ways at present to maintain dynamic economic growth.
According to reports from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), the trade surplus plummeted by 85 percent in the first quarter due to the sluggish world economy. Industrial production also witnessed negative growth for the first time in three years in first quarter.
Two economic think tanks, the Chung Hua Institute for Economic Research (
These figures indicate that Taiwan faces tough challenges, MOEA officials said. They said the sluggish world economy was to blame, with rising crude oil and raw material prices being the main culprits.
The MOEA officials added that South Korea and Singapore also posted flatter industrial growth rates in the first quarter.
Officials said that in the face of slower world economic growth, Taiwan must accelerate expansion of domestic demand and speed up the progress of major development projects. As such, lawmakers must pass the "eight-year, NT$800 billion" project at the earliest possible date.
Ho, who has just returned from a three-nation business and investment promotion tour of Europe, said that attracting more foreign investment and luring more foreign companies to operate in Taiwan is imperative at a time when private investment is losing steam.
Noting the importances of a continued inflow of funds from overseas, Ho said that most foreign investment has been in service industries, with US and Japanese investors topping the list of foreign investors in Taiwan.
Since European countries have turned more attention to Asia in recent years, the nation must tune in to attract European investors, she said.
"If Taiwan doesn't try to draw the Europeans' attention, then they will only hear from other Asian countries," Ho said.
That is why she led a 44-member Taiwan delegation of government officials and business executives to visit Slovakia, Sweden and Finland recently, she said.
Ho said that the delegation visited the headquarters of the Swedish companies SKF and Volvo and held talks with management.
Considering that auto parts and components made in Taiwan are among the best in the world, Volvo executives said they would enhance contact with the nation's suppliers for closer business exchanges, Ho said.
Ho also visited the headquarters of Volvo Aero and talked with the company's president, Fred Bodin, on Taiwan-Sweden cooperation in aircraft development.
During the group's visit to SKF, the largest roller bearing manufacturer in the world. Ho invited the firm to invest in Taiwan. She said the MOEA will help the company establish a production base here that will serve as a gateway to the Asia-Pacific market.
RSS