Taiwan’s export competitiveness has steadily declined over the past nine years in comparison with its major trade competitors, a senior Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) official said on Friday.
Citing government statistics, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-chung (林聖忠) said Taiwan posted an average annual growth in exports of 7 percent to the 10 member states of ASEAN between 2001 and last year, far lower than South Korea’s 9.4 percent and China’s 23.1 percent.
In terms of quantity, Lin said, Taiwan’s shipments to the 10 ASEAN states doubled during the nine-year period, while South Korea’s grew 2.5 times.
He made the remarks after the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) said in a front-page report yesterday that Taiwan’s export figures for the first quarter of this year seemed to be a slap in the face for the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
While the Ma administration has repeatedly said that if Taiwan fails to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, it would be marginalized in the wake of the formation of the ASEAN Plus One (China) free trade area, the paper said that Taiwan’s first-quarter exports remained robust, with the value of exports reaching US$61.8 billion — the second-highest ever for this period.
The latest statistics compiled by the Ministry of Finance showed that Taiwan’s exports to six of the major ASEAN member states amounted to US$9.04 billion in the first quarter, which was also the second-highest in Taiwan-ASEAN trade history.
First-quarter shipments to China, including Hong Kong, set a new quarterly record of US$26.42 billion, the ministry’s tallies showed.
All these figures point to the strength and resilience of Taiwan’s economy even after the formation of the ASEAN Plus One at the beginning of this year, the paper said.
In response, Lin said that trade competitiveness reflects Taiwan’s economic situation more accurately than export figures in the global macro-economy.
“The annual growth rate only measures one’s own performance in different periods ... We should compare our performance with others to better understand our actual strength,” Lin said, adding that Taiwan is actually losing its export competitiveness because of its lack of access to regional economic integration.
A South Korea-ASEAN free trade agreement (FTA) covering goods took effect in June 2007 and a similar agreement covering services came into force in May last year. Meanwhile, the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement took effect in December 2008, while the ASEAN Plus China free trade area was inaugurated on Jan. 1 this year.
Lin said ASEAN, Japan, South Korea and China have signed FTAs to boost their economic exchanges and cooperation.
These developments have taken a toll on Taiwan’s trade competitiveness, he said, adding that Taiwan needs to conclude an ECFA with China to facilitate its trade expansion and sustain its economic growth, he said.
The proposed ECFA is seen as a scaled-back FTA and the government hopes that its FTA talks with other countries will become easier after an ECFA is signed with China.
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