Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Taiwan approved by the government in the first five months of this year totaled US$3.42 billion, an 11.95 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Investment Commission data.
The latest investment data came as the UN Conference on Trade and Development on Tuesday last week issued its World Investment Report, which said that global FDI flows could decrease by up to 40 percent this year, compared with US$1.54 trillion last year.
“This shows that despite the effects of trade tensions and technology disputes between the US and China, as well as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign investors remain optimistic about Taiwan as a safe and trustworthy investment environment,” the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement on Saturday.
While the pandemic has hit global FDI and the lockdown measures are slowing down existing investments, Taiwan’s active and effective response to the outbreak has allowed it to retain positive FDI growth, the ministry said.
FDI is measured based on the investment activity of foreign firms, such as the incorporation of a subsidiary or joint venture, a cash injection into a local unit, or mergers or stake acquisitions of domestic firms. Taiwan’s FDI excludes investments from China.
The increase was driven mainly by investments from wind power firms, such as Denmark-based Orsted Wind Power TW Holding A/S’ NT$24.8 billion (US$836.14 million) capital injection into Greater Changhua Offshore Wind Farm SE Ltd (大彰化東南離岸風力發電) and Greater Changhua Offshore Wind Farm SW Ltd (大彰化西南離岸風力發電), commission data showed.
Other major FDI projects include Diodes Taiwan SARL’s NT$13.3 billion investment into its local unit, Diodes Technologies Taiwan Co (台灣達爾科技), and Japan-based Kioxia Corp’s NT$8.23 billion investment in Kioxia Taiwan Corp (台灣鎧俠), the data showed.
The commission approved US$47.42 million in Chinese investment, a 68.14 percent increase from a year earlier, the data showed.
The ministry said that a low comparison base last year helped the surge in Chinese investments.
Investment from January to last month from countries that are part of the government’s New Southbound Policy decreased 74.83 percent annually to US$172.14 million, due to a high comparison base in the previous year, the ministry said.
The commission approved US$3.25 billion in outbound investments, excluding China, an annual increase of 8.1 percent, while investments to China increased 40.3 percent to US$2.67 billion, the data showed.
Outbound investment to New Southbound Policy countries grew 17.57 percent year-on-year to US$1.27 billion, which the ministry attributed to local firms’ increasing investments in Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia.
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