Backed by a mild recovery in Asian markets, Taiwanese exports last month rose for a second straight month, which could be an indication that the economy has bottomed out and was starting to recover, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
However, prolonged weakness in major economies such as the US and Europe resulted in full-year exports — although the second-highest level in history at US$301.11 billion — falling 2.3 percent from a year ago, ministry data showed. It was the fifth time in history that outbound shipments showed a contraction.
Exports totaled US$26.1 billion last month, up 9 percent and 4.9 percent from a year and a month ago respectively, the ministry said in a report.
“The global economy has gradually returned to a steady track, with seasonal demand from China rising ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which helped boost exports last month,” Yeh Maan-tzwu (葉滿足), director of the ministry’s statistics department, told a press conference.
For the fourth quarter last year, exports rose 2.5 percent from a year ago to US$77.51 billion, ending three straight quarters of declines and providing more evidence of a global economic recovery, Yeh added.
Exports to major Asian markets — including China and Hong Kong, Japan and six major ASEAN members — all grew last month compared with a year earlier, with shipments to China and Hong Kong rising 10 percent to US$10.48 billion from a year earlier, the best performance since September 2011, the report said.
Shipments to Europe, which totaled US$2.68 billion last month, also ended seven months of contraction to rise 11 percent from a year earlier, data showed.
Exports to the US dropped 1.3 percent to US$2.7 billion because of slowing demand for information and communications technology (ICT) and mechanical products, the ministry said.
However, overall shipments of ICT products last month rose 2.1 percent from a year ago to US$1.42 billion, terminating 13 consecutive months of declines, Yeh said.
Yeh said she expected exports to continue rising this month and likely exceeding US$25 billion because of strong demand ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday next month and a lower comparison base last year, when the Lunar New Year fell in January.
On the import front, shipments last month edged up 1.6 percent from a year ago to US$21.98 billion, up from US$21.49 billion in November last year.
Cumulative imports for last year dropped 3.8 percent to US$270.73 billion, ministry data showed.
That resulted in a trade surplus of US$4.13 billion last month, lifting the trade surplus for the full year by US$3.56 billion to US$30.38 billion, data showed.
Tony Phoo (符銘財), a Taipei-based economist at Standard Chartered Bank, said the rise in imports showed that Taiwan’s economic growth in the fourth quarter may have found support from improving capital goods imports, adding that resilient producers’ confidence bodes well for capital expenditure and hiring this year.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the