Taiwan’s trade competitiveness has fallen for four consecutive years, according to the Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei 2017 Survey on Global Trade Environments and Growth Potential in Key and Emerging Markets, published today.
Out of the 54 countries surveyed, Taiwan is still in the “A list” of “highly recommended” countries in which to trade, although this year Taiwan has fallen to the bottom of the grouping. According to a report by the association, there are three key reasons for the decline: the competitiveness of emerging markets, Taiwan’s low salary environment — which has lead to a talent gap — and an over reliance on the Chinese market.
Taiwan has slipped in all of the survey’s rankings. It is now ranked 13th for competitiveness, while the US pushed Singapore out of last year’s position at the top. Singapore and Germany took second and third place, respectively. On trade liberalization, Taiwan was ranked 18th, with the US, Singapore and the Netherlands taking the top three spots. Taiwan is now ranked 20th for trade convenience and speed, with Singapore, the US and Germany taking first, second and third place.
Graphic: TT
According to the report, the UK’s Oxford Economics forecasts that by 2021 Taiwan will have the most acute brain drain headache of any country in the world.
This article was first published on Feb. 22.
(CNA, translated by Edward Jones)
Photo: CNA
照片：中央社
台灣貿易競爭力連四年下滑。台北進出口公會今發布二０一七年全球重要暨新興市場貿易環境與發展潛力調查報告。
報告指出，台灣雖然位居五十四個貿易地區的A級「極力推薦」區，不過已經是這個等級的最後一名，而導致衰退的三大主因分別為：新興市場競爭力、長期低薪環境人才斷層以及貿易高度依賴中國。
台灣排名全數下滑：國家競爭力排名第十三，美國擠下去年第一名新加坡奪冠，新加坡及德國分居二、三名；貿易自由度台灣排名第十八，前三名為美國、新加坡及荷蘭；貿易便捷度，台灣排名第二十名，前三名為新加坡、美國及德國。
報告指出，根據英國牛津經濟研院發表國際人才報告指出，二０二一年台灣將是全球人才流失最嚴重的國家。(中央社/本文已於二月二十二日刊登)
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