With the global economy in recovery the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) released forecasts yesterday that predict Taiwan’s exports will grow this year by 19.9 percent — a level not seen for five years.
The last time Taiwan’s exports enjoyed at least 20 percent growth was in 2004, when they grew by 21.1 percent.
Taiwan’s exporters were hit hard by the global economic slump as exports declined by 20.3 percent in 2009, with total exports valued at US$203.7 billion.
CIER also said Taiwan’s imports would increase 23.3 percent this year — which will also be a sharp improvement as the country’s import value was down 27.4 percent last year.
RECOVERY
The report, sponsored by the Bureau of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of the Economic Affairs, said that the economic situation of Taiwan’s two major export markets — China and the US — recovered further in the fourth quarter of last year, indicating that these markets have entered a steady pace of recovery.
China’s economic growth in the fourth quarter increased to 10.7 percent from 9.1 percent in third quarter; and the US showed a 0.1 percent growth in fourth quarter, compared to a contraction of 2.6 percent in third quarter.
In addition, Taiwan’s foreign trade has also shown continuous improvements, with exports in the fourth quarter growing by 16.93 percent and imports increasing by 18.07 percent, the CIER said.
CIER said that with global and domestic economies recovering along with improving cross-strait relations fostering greater economic and trade cooperation with China, Taiwan’s foreign trade is expected to enjoy buoyant growth this year.
EMPLOYMENT
Another recent survey by a job bank showed that it may be easier to find jobs in central Taiwan than in the north and south of the country.
The survey by the Yes123 Job Bank showed that there were 1.48 job opportunities per applicant in Taichung this month.
This compares with 1.31 per applicant in Taipei and 1.26 job opportunities per applicant in southern Kaohsiung.
These findings were supported by the results of a 104 Job Bank survey which showed that demand for labor this month is stronger in central Taiwan than in other areas of the country.
According to the 104 Job Bank survey, the number of job opportunities in central Taiwan this month increased by 60.9 percent when compared to the same month last year.
In southern Taiwan the increase was 59.7 percent, in northern Taiwan 57.3 percent, and in eastern Taiwan 22.7 percent, the survey found.
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