Agriculture and tourism in the 921 quake-hit areas in central Taiwan will need at least half a year to one year to recover, according to a leading private think tank. But the manufacturing industry should be able to resume normal productivity by the end of this week, it said.
The predictions were made by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 臺灣經濟研究院) in its latest investigative report, released yesterday, on industrial losses in 921 quake-hit areas.
According to the report, the losses sustained by the manufacturing industry were mostly caused by power rationing and stoppages, rather than structural damage. As a result, production has already returned to ninety percent of its pre-quake level.
"Damaged buildings were mostly for administrative use, not for production, so productivity was not affected as much," said Chu Cheng-chung (
While full production is expected to resume by the end of this week, the report said, the recovery of the agriculture and tourism industries will take much longer.
Important facilities for agriculture such as reservoirs, irrigation canals, terraced paddies and tea plantations, and industrial roads are badly damaged. As a result, it will take at least one to two years for the agriculture industry to resume full production, the report said.
Tourism has also been adversely affected. Local tourist operators are not expecting sales to return to normal within the next six months because of a number of factors.
These include travel routes still under repair, tourists afraid to travel, and the traffic controls implemented in quake-hit areas.
"The overall Taiwan economy has not been seriously affected by the 921 quake," said Wu Rong-I (
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