Total trade with Germany last year surpassed US$20 billion for the first time, the German Trade Office Taipei said.
The figure rose to a record US$20.7 billion, up 27.5 percent from US$16.2 billion in 2020, the office said in a statement.
“German-Taiwanese trade relations developed overwhelmingly positively in 2021, defying the [COVID-19] pandemic,” office Executive Director Axel Limberg said in a statement.
Germany last year retained its position as Taiwan’s most important trade partner in Europe, Limberg said.
It is particularly gratifying that imports and exports between Germany and Taiwan rose significantly, indicating that bilateral economic relations are mutually beneficial, he said.
Taiwan’s exports to Germany were US$8.2 billion last year, up 35.4 percent year-on-year, while imports accounted for US$12.5 billion, up 22.8 percent from a year earlier, according to Ministry of Finance data cited by the German Trade Office.
Exports of machinery and electrical equipment totaled US$4.2 billion last year, accounting for about half of all exports, with electronic parts, and information, communication and audio-video products among the most popular items, the data showed.
Machinery and electrical equipment were the top imports from Germany, worth almost US$4.9 billion, with machinery accounting for the biggest share with about 46 percent, the office said.
While overall approved foreign direct investment in Taiwan fell by 18.2 percent last year, German investment increased by 67.3 percent year-on-year to US$252.6 million, the office said, citing Ministry of Economic Affairs data.
Limberg said that technologies from both sides perfectly complement each other, and further expansion in international cooperation would be crucial to shaping key technologies such as Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence and biotechnology.
The office said that it would host an economic outlook meeting with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and major German companies in Taiwan on Feb. 22, during which they would assess “the current state of the German economy in Taiwan” and discuss the future of the Taiwanese economy, as well as key industries.
Local suppliers of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) appear to be divided over whether they should follow the chipmaker and also set up production facilities in the US, after TSMC announced that it would increase its investment in Arizona. While some TSMC suppliers, including clean-room design service provider United Integrated Services Co (漢唐集成), have set up plants in the US, others, such as IC testing and analysis provider Materials Analysis Technology Inc (閎康科技), have hesitated to make the move because of high production costs in the US. TSMC on Tuesday announced that it would increase its planned US$12 billion investment in
Netherlands-based ASML Holding NV, a leading global supplier of semiconductor production equipment, is considering bringing its European suppliers to Taiwan, doubling down on its supply-chain deployment in the country, Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said yesterday. That follows ASML’s announcement that it would build manufacturing facilities in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口) to support international customers and the development of the semiconductor industry. RELOCATION Shen did not disclose details about ASML’s new efforts to relocate European supply chains to Taiwan. ASML is to begin construction on the New Taipei City project in July, Shen said during a speech at a technology forum
MORE ADVANCED CHIPS: The company is planning to build a second, 3-nanometer fab in Arizona, TSMC said ahead of a ‘tool-in’ ceremony at its first plant near Phoenix Apple Inc is to be the biggest customer of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) new Arizona factories, Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote on Twitter yesterday. “Apple silicon unlocks a new level of performance for our users. And soon, many of these chips can be stamped ‘Made in America.’ The opening of TSMC’s plant in Arizona marks a new era of advanced manufacturing in the US — and we are proud to become the site’s largest customer,” he wrote. Cook’s tweet came as TSMC held a “tool-in” ceremony for its US$12 billion wafer fab in Arizona on Tuesday, which marked the beginning
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is to build a wafer fab deploying 1 nanometer (nm) process technology at the Longtan (龍潭) campus of Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), Hsinchu Science Park Bureau Director-General Wayne Wang (王永壯) said yesterday. The bureau completed a pilot project in the middle of last month for the third expansion phase of the Longtan Science Park (龍潭科學園區) in Taoyuan to accommodate the new TSMC plant, Wang told a news conference. The pilot expansion project has been submitted to the National Science and Technology Council, which would next forward the project to the Cabinet for approval, Wang said. “The efforts
RSS