The government should maintain a low foreign exchange rate for the New Taiwan dollar to help boost exports, a local electronics association said yesterday.
“We hope the foreign exchange rate can be kept at a level that would support the industry’s efforts to expand its foreign markets,” Arthur Chiao (焦佑鈞), chairman of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association (台灣電子電機公會), said on the sidelines of a trade exposition in Taipei.
The NT dollar rose NT$0.003 against the US dollar to close at NT$29.399 in Taipei trading yesterday.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Chiao said he hopes the exchange rate will not affect a possible turning point in exports, which ended a six-month declining streak last month.
The electronics industry has remained “the most vibrant” in Taiwan amid a global economic downturn, Chiao said.
The output value of Taiwan’s electronics industry was US$267.2 billion last year, accounting for 51.3 percent of the country’s total industrial output, while electronics exports last year amounted to US$146.3 billion, accounting for 47.5 percent of the nation’s total exports, government data showed.
The industry needs more innovation and integration in areas such as cloud computing and green technologies to drive growth, Chiao said on the first day of the combined exposition of five trade fairs on electronics, cloud computing, broadband communications, green industries and smart green cities.
The event, which so far has attracted about 1,000 exhibitors, combines three electronics trade fairs and two green industry shows for the first time, said Wang Chih-kang (王志剛), chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會), one of the organizers.
The five shows are expected to draw more than 55,000 local and foreign buyers and generate US$350 million in new business, Wang said at the event’s opening ceremony.
“The hosting of the five shows at the same venue and at the same time adds new green, smart and innovation elements to the longstanding electronics shows, providing the electronics and green industries with new opportunities for development,” Wang said.
The five shows will run until Friday at the Taipei World Trade Center’s Nangang Exhibition Hall.
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