Thanks to robust exports, the nation’s balance of payments recorded a current account surplus of US$28.65 billion last quarter, more than double the level a year earlier, the central bank said yesterday.
“The result fell in line with data from other government agencies, which showed that the COVID-19 pandemic boosted demand for electronic devices used in remote working and schooling,” the central bank said.
Taiwan is a major manufacturer and designer of integrated circuits, as well as other critical components used in smartphones and other tech products.
Exports expanded 6 percent in the third quarter, reversing a decline of 2.4 percent three months earlier, as countries opened up their economies and China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) stockpiled electronics supply ahead of US sanctions that took effect on Sept. 15.
As a result, the goods trade surplus soared by US$6.96 billion to US$23.47 billion last quarter, it said.
Meanwhile, the services account posted a surplus of US$1.68 billion, compared with a deficit of US$1.85 billion during the same period last year, mainly because of a shrinking travel deficit, it said.
Travel income and spending stood at US$140 million and US$390 million respectively, allowing the travel deficit to narrow to US$250 million, the smallest since the first quarter of 2016, it said.
Some businesspeople resumed international travel, but a full recovery appears a long shot in light of the spiking number of inflections worldwide, the bank said.
The financial account saw capital outflows for the 41st consecutive quarter, with direct investment registering US$1.5 billion, it said.
That is because outbound direct investment by local residents amounted to US$4.54 billion, while inbound direct investment by foreign investors reached U$3.04 billion, it said.
It is common for countries with current account surpluses to see capital outflows, as financial institutions have to pursue better yields elsewhere since the local market cannot meet their needs, it said.
Capital outflows totaled US$513.48 billion, equivalent to seven years of tax revenues in Taiwan, the bank said.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
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