Taiwan’s private investments grew at a slower-than-expected annual pace of 2.82 percent last year, due to volatility in the global economy and falling prices of crude oil products, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The growth was a significant retreat from 2014’s 6.65 percent annual increase, the ministry said.
It was also the first time in the past 10 years that private investments failed to reach the government’s annual goal, with total investments of NT$1.34 trillion (US$39.73 billion) — nearly NT$60 billion short of the target of NT$1.4 trillion — ministry data showed.
“Less investment from the petrochemical industry because of the sharp decline in oil prices last year is the main reason that private investments did not reach the annual goal,” Industrial Development Bureau Deputy Director-General Hsiao Chen-jong (蕭振榮) said at a news conference following the ministry’s meeting on the nation’s private and foreign investments.
Private investments in Taiwan’s petrochemical industry last year totaled NT$275.8 billion, an 11.3 percent plunge from 2014’s NT$310 billion, the data showed.
Investments in the sector fell NT$46.2 billion short of the government’s annual goal for the sector of NT$322 billion, Hsiao said.
In terms of companies, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) invested the most among the nation’s listed companies, with investments of NT$180 billion, Hsiao said.
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the nation’s No. 2 contract chipmaker, invested NT$49.7 billion domestically, he said.
Both TSMC and UMC mainly spent their investments on purchasing equipment and investing in new technologies to maintain their competitiveness in the global market, Hsiao said.
Panel maker AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) invested NT$40 billion, with the majority of the investment going into expanding its production capacity of 8.5G and 6G low-temperature polycrystalline silicon technology, Hsiao said.
Innolux Corp (群創) invested most of its NT$35 billion in the research and development into panel technology, he said.
As the outlook for the global economy is gloomy, the ministry decided to set a conservative goal of NT$1.4 trillion in private investments for this year, Hsiao said.
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