Inward foreign direct investment (FDI) approved by the Taiwanese government in the first quarter of this year amounted to US$1.19 billion, a decrease of 21.19 percent compared with the same period last year, a report released yesterday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
During the first three months of this year, approved outward FDI posted a year-on-year increase of 129.1 percent to reach US$1.16 billion, data by the ministry’s Investment Commission showed.
Last month alone, approved inward FDI amounted to US$427 million, while outward FDI totaled US$437 million.
Data from the Financial Supervisory Commission’s Securities and Futures Bureau showed that in the first quarter of this year, new securities issued overseas by Taiwan-based listed companies amounted to US$318 million, while foreign investors remitted a net US$15.98 billion into Taiwan for investment in the stock market.
In terms of China-bound investment, 184 projects worth a total of US$1.98 billion were approved by the commission in the first quarter of this year.
The amount, which represented a decline of 4.61 percent year-on-year, was established at US$832 million for last month.
During the three months to March, Taiwanese businesses registered 74 new China-bound investment projects worth no more than US$200,000, with a total value of US$9.23 million.
Of the investment approved in the first quarter, 32.4 percent were intended for Jiangsu Province, 17.84 percent for Shanghai, 13.68 percent for Guangdong Province, 10.48 percent for Fujian Province and 7.79 percent for Zhejiang Province.
By industry, 14.3 percent of the approved investments were for electronic part and component manufacturing, 11.81 percent for base metal manufacturing, 10.96 percent for computer manufacturing, electronics and optical products, 8.92 percent for power equipment manufacturing and 8.32 percent for machinery manufacturing.
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