More than half the respondents in a survey said Taiwan’s slow progress in the resumption of trade talks with the US under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) was “disadvantageous for their business,” the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taipei said yesterday.
In its 2012 Business Climate Survey, which was conducted in December and January among 387 executives, AmCham said about 53 percent of respondents viewed continued talks between Taiwan and the US on the stalled TIFA as important, after the relationship between the two sides turned tense over the US beef imports issue.
“Considering that not all AmCham member companies are US-based and many of the US-based companies among membership are in industries unrelated to TIFA issues, this is a high percentage,” AmCham said in an e-mailed statement.
The online survey also showed that about 70 percent of respondents expressed optimism about their five-year business outlook in Taiwan.
However, only about 43 percent of respondents expressed plans to increase investment here in the coming year, down from 54 percent last year.
Nearly 58 percent said they expected an increase in revenue and profits this year, also lower than the 81 percent predicting so last year, the online survey showed.
“The driving factor seems to be global macroeconomic uncertainty and its expected impact on Taiwan’s economy,” AmCham chairman Bill Wiseman said in the statement.
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