The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan hit a new high last year, up 3.03 percent to 1.596 million from a year earlier, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a white paper on Friday.
SMEs are defined as companies with paid-in capital of no more than NT$100 million (US$3.1 million) or fewer than 200 regular employees. The companies accounted for 98.92 percent of Taiwan’s total 1.613 million enterprises last year, the ministry said.
About 80 percent of SMEs were in the service sector, with 46.18 percent in the wholesale or retail businesses, the white paper said.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
The ministry said that 117,112 SMEs had been in operation for less than a year, making up 7.34 percent of the total, while 30.01 percent had been in operation for less than five years and 48.52 percent for less than 10 years.
The combined workforce of SMEs reached about 9.2 million employees last year, down 1.19 percent from a year earlier, representing 80.37 percent of Taiwan’s total workforce. Manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and construction were the top three sectors among SMEs, it said.
The white paper said that the number of employees aged 45 or older at SMEs has increased in the past few years, while high-school, college and university graduates were among the top three employee categories.
The number of SMEs owned by women was 586,304, or 37.16 percent of the total, it said.
Revenue generated by SMEs totaled NT$26.62 trillion, up 13.01 percent from a year earlier, representing 52.51 percent of revenue posted by all enterprises, it said, adding that almost 90 percent of SMEs’ sales were generated in the local market, totaling NT$2.32 trillion, up 11.49 percent from last year.
The ministry said the owners of SMEs were faced with a lack of digital talent and encouraged the owners to participate in training provided by the government to take on growth challenges.
Many SMEs are hoping to assign their resources to advanced business development, such as data analysis and cloud technology-based applications, to boost their competitive edge, it said.
The government is determined to provide assistance, including financing, export promotions, courses for start-ups, technology research and development, it said.
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