The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said on Saturday that it plans to raise spending this year by 5 percent to 10 percent from a year earlier to promote exports in a bid to widen Taiwan’s global visibility.
The money will be used in part to assist continued efforts to help exporters enter emerging markets, while the ministry will also organize trade delegations to forge closer ties with those markets, it said.
The ministry has set a goal of a 4.2 percent rise in exports this year over last year, when outbound trade hit US$305.45 billion, up 1.4 percent from 2012.
The ministry last year spent about NT$180 million (US$5.94 million) promoting Taiwan-made products in 10 markets — China, Russia, Brazil, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Myanmar and Mexico.
The ministry said promotional expenses could reach about NT$195 million this year, not including personnel and operational costs in the ministry’s foreign-based offices.
Last year, promotional spending regarding exports to China hit NT$130 million, representing the majority of the year’s total spending. The ministry said that this year’s spending for the China market is expected to remain about the same as last year’s.
China and Hong Kong accounted for almost 40 percent of Taiwan’s total exports last year. The six ASEAN members came in second to make up 18.8 percent of total exports.
However, export-focused promotional spending for other emerging markets is set to increase, with expenses for the UAE expected to rise by 40 percent, Vietnam 30 percent, and Myanmar and Brazil expected to climb more than 20 percent, the ministry said.
The ministry will also send high-level delegations to several markets, including Myanmar, the UAE, Indonesia and India this year, and provide subsidies to industrial associations and local companies to promote their products in the global market.
Meanwhile, the ministry said it has approved 34 applications this year from exporters seeking subsidies for marketing and distribution. The subsidies are expected to cost about NT$107 million, it said.
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