Private investment in major Taiwanese construction projects is expected to fall by a record 32 percent next year amid a flagging economy, officials said yesterday.
The Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) said it estimated that total investment in major Taiwanese projects -- or those valued more than NT$200 million (US$5.8 million) -- would fall to NT$475.2 billion.
"Many private enterprises are expected to scale back investments as a widely anticipated economic recovery had been pushed back after the Sept. 11 [terrorist attacks on the US]," a spokesman for the economics ministry unit said.
"Those that are already suffering sizable losses from the global slowdown this year may stop making any new investments at all," the IDB spokesman added.
The Taiwanese government estimates total major private sector investments for this year will total NT$699.9 billion, down 2.8 percent from 1999.
Analysts generally expect Taiwan's GDP to contract by 1.0 to 2.0 percent this year from the fallout of the terror attacks and Typhoon Nari.
The government has forecast a 0.37-percent drop in GDP for this year.
The nation's information technology sector was expected to be the hardest hit, with major investments plunging a record 47 percent to NT$233.2 billion next year, the IDB official said.
The estimated figure would account for 49 percent of the total major investments by private enterprises in Taiwan for 2002, down from 72 percent this year, he added.
Major investments in chemical-related industries next year were estimated at NT$170 billion, followed by NT$72 billion in the metal machinery and automobile sectors.
Combined major investments in the nine months to September accumulated to NT$575.4 billion, up 1.4 percent from the same period last year.
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